Las Vegas: Don't Say A Word
by Caitlin-Todd
Summary: Pairing: Sam/Danny.
1. Default Chapter

The big golden elevator doors slowly opened up and out came Samantha Marquez walking in another fabulous outfit. Smiling and greeting everybody like any other day. Her shift didn't start for another 10 minutes but she was as usual ahead of schedule. She always wanted to keep one step ahead no matter what and that was one of the reasons she was the most wanted casino host in Las Vegas.

"Good morning boys! Any luck?" she asked with a smile as she walked up to two of her biggest clients; the Richards cousins from New York. They had been with her for a few years now and naturally they started gambling at

The Montecito since she started working there.

"As always, Sam!" said Will Richards with a flirty smile and Sam looked up at the pit boss, Nessa Holt, who nodded at her with a smile.

"They've been on fire since this morning" she said with her British accent and Sam looked even happier then she already was. This day was starting off great and if it continued she knew her boss, Ed Deline, would be very pleased with her.

"Keep on playing, boys! I'll be back later; call if you need anything!" she said and winked at the cousins before heading off to Mystique to meet up with another client.

On her way there her mobile phone started vibrating in her hand and she quickly answered.

"Sam here" she said with a cheerful voice and walked through the doors to Mystique.

"Good morning sunshine!" said Montecito's head of security, Danny McCoy, sounding more chipper then usual. Sam waved at her client with a big smile and walked up to the bar.

"What do you want, Danny? I just started my shift and mr Dayton is waiting for me as we speak" she said in a very serious voice. When it came to Danny McCoy, you could never really know how important a phone call could be. Most of the time it was serious work-related and then some times not. This was one of those times.

"What makes you think I want something?" Danny asked and tried to sound offended. But Sam could almost feel that he was in a sickly good mood.

"Because I have half a brain...also, you never call me 'sunshine' unless it's something in it for you. So spit out before I'm hanging up!" she said and glared over at mr Dayton that didn't wanted to wait much longer. She then glanced down at her watch and realized that her shift has just started. And she always got to her clients on time no matter what.

"Okay, here's deal...I was wondering if you could get me two tickets to tonight's concert" Danny said and Sam sighed.

"Danny, this is why I'm being late for mr Dayton? Because you wanna impress your latest girl before you screw her? Well, here's an idea; reserve your tickets like normal people!" she snapped and quickly hung up the phone.

She then turned around with a big smile and walked up to mr Dayton.

"I'm so sorry, mr Dayton. A collegaue of mine just wanted to check on some things for tonight's concert" she said and mr Dayton smiled at her.

"Not a problem, Sam. So...shall we?" he asked and Sam took a seat across the table from him. She took out her palm pilot and got the information needed for the meeting.

Danny McCoy put away his mobile phone and leaned back in the chair with a groan.

"Is this boring you?" Ed Deline asked and slowly turned around with a very serious look upon his face. Not that he would ever look anything but deadly serious, but Danny did his best not to make him even more serious.

"No! No! I just got of the phone with Sam...it didn't exactly go as planned" he said and Ed sighed.

"Do I even wanna know what it's about?" he asked and Danny got nervous just by looking at him.

"Probably not. So, anything happening on the floor?" he asked, smoothly changing the subject. Ed turned around again and watched the monitors.

"Nothing out of the usual. Looks like it might be a pretty slow day" he said and Danny leaned back in the chair again. Even though he sometimes loved the action, the slow days was needed from time to time. Although he would never dare say so to Ed who lived for the Montecito.

"Hey, I think I'm going to go for a round down there. Just to be on the safe side" Danny said and got out of the chair.

"And I can trust you not swinging by Mystique? There's anything there needed to be checked out...right?" Ed asked and turned around. He had never really forgiven Danny for his secret affair with Ed's daughter, Delinda, that had ended many months ago. Since then Danny had never been able to catch a break from him.

"Right! Nothing there. I'm just gonna by the machines and check with Nessa if everything's okay. I'll be back in 10 minutes!" Danny said and head for the stairs.

"Make that 5 minutes!" Ed shouted after him as he was going downstairs. Danny sighed and walked into the casino, glancing up at the security cameras that were just about everywhere. At times like these he wished they weren't.

Because then he would be able to grill Sam for those two concert tickets without Ed finding out and then having his head for it. One of the worse things you could to Big Ed Deline was to not obey his orders and Danny wasn't about to be the first one.

"Hey, Nessa, what's up?" he asked and Nessa Holt turned around with a smile.

"Getting tired of being stuck up in the watchtower with Ed?" she asked, very well knowing the answer.

"No, off course not. What makes you say that?" Danny said and tried to look confused. Nessa chuckled and pointed up the nearest camera with a smile.

"Danny, I've lived with the man for most my life...you seriously don't think I can't relate? That's Ed for you! Especially on a slow day like this" she said and Danny tried to hide his disappointment.

"So nothing to report? Nothing at all?" he asked and Nessa stroked his cheek.

"Oh, poor Danny...he's riding you hard, isn't he?" she said with a baby voice and Danny sighed.

"No, I didn't say that. It's just that...I wouldn't mind some action right about now" he said and Nessa just gave him a teasing smile as usual.

"Hey Ness! Hi Danny...! Daddy making you work hard on a slow day like this?" Delinda Deline suddenly said with a cheerful smile as she walked up to them.

"Not really. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay down here" Danny said, keeping a straight face. Nessa glared at Delinda with a devious smile.

"Ah...! So you're hiding from him?" Delinda said and Danny nodded at the security camera.

"Hiding from Big Ed? I don't think so! The man knows every move I ever make!" he said and both the girls couldn't help but laugh. They just loved teasing Danny on days such as this one.

"So what really brings you down here?" Nessa asked and Danny wasn't sure if he should tell them or not. Delinda moved up closer to him and barely touched his neck with her fingertips.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with that concert tonight" she said in a low voice. As if nobody else were suppose to know about it.

"Ah! Has Danny boy gotten himself a pretty little date for the evening?" Nessa asked and raised her eyebrows. Danny tried so hard to keep a straight face but it never worked on either Nessa or Delinda.

"Maybe" he said and nearly blushed when Delinda suddenly kissed him gently on the cheek.

"And you wanna ask us for a favor, right?" she then said and Danny just nodded along.

"Well, let's hear it! We're not mind readers!" Nessa said with a laugh and Delinda walked over to her. Both of them gave Danny a long stare before he managed to even open his mouth.

"Okay, look, it's about the concert. I need two tickets but I heard through Mary that everything is sold out" he said slowly and Delinda winked at Nessa.

"So, if everything is sold out...how are you suppose to get any tickets?" Nessa asked and looked completely oblivious. Delinda giggled and Danny knew this wasn't going to be easy at all.

"Well, I was kinda hoping that Sam could get me the two tickets. But after our phone call earlier I'm guessing she's not really speaking to me" Danny explained and Delinda whispered something to Nessa. They laughed and then looked straight at Danny with devious smiles.

"Okay, you got it! I'll go and talk to Sam about the tickets. While you stay with Nessa, trying to look really busy. Wouldn't wanna daddy think you're just slacking off on work, right?" Delinda said and looked up at the camera with a big innocent smile. She then turned around and walked straight into Mystique.

"Wait...how did Delinda know that Sam would be there?" Danny asked and Nessa picked up her mobile phone.

"We keep in touch through these...remember? If one of us leave the casino for only five minutes the others knows about it. That way we can cover for each other which means less lexures from Ed" she explained and put down the mobile phone in her jacket again. Danny glanced up at the camera and decided to do as he was told.

"So...any special plans for the weekend?" he asked as he took a few steps closer to Nessa. She glanced up at the camera and then looked Danny straight in the eyes.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours" she said with a teasing smile.

Delinda looked around and just as she spotted Sam in the corner, busy talking to mr Dayton about something, he mobile phone started ringing. She quickly turned around and answered it.

"Yeah?" she said and carefully glanced over at Sam. She still hadn't noticed Delinda thankfully.

"Have you talked to her yet?" Danny asked at the other end of the phone. Delinda looked out through one of the windows and waved at Nessa and Danny.

"What do you think? I just got here!" Delinda whispered.

"Look, Delinda, just let me talk to her" Danny said, sounding extremely tired by now. Delinda sighed, turned around and walked up to the table with a big smile.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt but, Sam, you got a call waiting" Delinda whispered as she bend down towards Sam.

"Can't it wait? I'm busy right now, Delinda" Sam said and gave mr Dayton a nervous smile. Delinda did the same and then turned her attention back to Sam.

"Afraid not. It's apparently quite important" she whispered and Sam excused herself before grabbing Delinda's phone.

"Sam here" she said as usual, this time not sounding so cheerful. Mr Dayton was a very important client that came to the Montecito every month, ready to spend big money gambling, and it was Sam's job to keep him returning in the future. Which she doubt would be so easy if she kept being pulled away from their meetings.

"Hey, Sam, it's Danny. Listen I..."

As soon she hard Danny's voice at the other end, she hung up and walked back to Delinda with a very annoying look upon her face.

"Tell mr McCoy that I'll be busy all day and can't possible take any calls from him. Even if it's a matter of life or death, okay?" she said with a stone cold tone in her voice and Delinda nodded with a nervous smile. She excused herself and quickly made her way towards the doors. Right then her mobile phone started ringing again.

"Delinda, it seems that we got disconnected. Something wrong with your phone?" Danny asked at the other end.

"I'm sorry, Danny, but she has made it perfectly clear that she is very busy and doesn't wanna talk to you. Even if it's a matter of life or death" she added on the end to make sure Danny got the message and then hung up.

She walked towards the reception after coming out of Mystique and gave Danny a sympathy look before disappearing out of sight. Nessa turned to Danny and gave the same look. He really hated when they did that.

"Sorry, Danny, she tried. But you should that Sam isn't that easy to convince. Besides, those tickets she has is for clients only I'm afraid. Better luck next time, mate" she said and patted Danny on the shoulder before walking back to the craps tables.

Danny let out a groan and took once last glance over at Mystique before walking back to the watchtower.


	2. Chapter 2

The first couple of hours went by pretty quickly for Sam. Her meeting mr Dayton continued on smoothly after Danny's phone call. He left in his limousine and promised to return next month as usual. Sam went back into the Montecito, more cheerful then before. When it was getting dark outside she was still checking up on some of her most important clients. Thankfully, she hadn't bumped into Danny and hoped it would stay that way.

"How are we doing over there then?" she said with a big smile when she walked to the Richards cousin's table. Nessa glanced at her with an approving smile and Sam knew that meant it was going very well. She patted the cousins on their shoulders before she continued her round. Her clients were almost all over the place and she hadn't been this busy in a few weeks now. All she could bare to think about at this time was her big comfortable bed up in her hotel suite. She had been chewing caffeine tabs for about an hour now and had a feeling that she would be climbing on the walls later on.

"Hey, Sam! Got any plans for tonight?" Delinda asked cheerfully as she nearly ran up to Sam.

"Well, I'm not going to the concert if that's what you're wondering. I'll be in bed by then" Sam said and smiled at the thought of the wonderful bed.

"Oh, come on! We haven't had a girl's night out in ages! Ness and Mary is skipping the concert to go to this new club outside the casino...so what do you say? Up for some action?" Delinda asked and winked at her. Sam let out a short laugh and looked over at Nessa, as if to double check that Delinda wasn't joking around.

"You guys, I haven't slept in over 24 hours! The only thing that's keeping me up are these!" she said and showed Delinda the little bottle of caffeine tabs.

"Sam, you're always working! Either that or sleeping..." Delinda said under her breath but Sam heard her.

"Look, D, you know I'm up for 'action' every chance I get but how much fun would I be if I fell a sleep at the bar sipping martinis? Besides, my job is very important to me and if you can't understand that...tough luck!" Sam said and quickly walked away. She walked over to the reception to check that her newest clients had arrived, when Mary walked up to her.

"You okay?" she asked, looking concerned. Sam ran her fingers through her hair and let out a groan.

"I'm fine. It's just the damn tabs that's making me really cranky I guess" she said with a weak smile.

"Well, I don't blame you. I told Delinda that you wouldn't be up for a girl's night out but she just had to ask you. So I'm guessing you wont be at the concert either, huh?" Mary asked and Sam took out her palm pilot.

"Oh man! I got five guys coming in from L.A tonight! And they have booked tickets for the concert...well, I guess this means another 24 hours without sleeping" she said and check through the information just to be sure.

"So this means you're gonna come to the concert anyway?" Mary asked, feeling sorry for Sam but at the same time she was glad that she now would have some company. She had heard that Danny would come with some new hot girl so she really hoped that Sam would be at the concert.

"Yeah...!" Sam said and put down her palm pilot again. She leaned against the reception counter and closed her eyes for a minute. It feels so good to just relax, even if it was just for a moment. Mary gave her a sympathetic look and started feeling guilty.

"Hey, how about you go upstairs now and catch a few hours sleep? You don't want your clients to complain about their casino host being a sleep during a very important concert?" Mary said with a smile and Sam slowly opened her eyes again.

"I would, but it's that I gotta check up on the Richards cousins. Then I gotta order a few tables at Mystique for the clients who just got up to their suites. After that I gotta go and get all the tickets for the concert, change into another outfit, greet the new clients from L.A and then give them all my undivided attention during the concert...which just happens to be 3 hours long! Breaks not included" Sam said and Mary just stared at her without saying anything. She knew Sam was always busy with her clients, but she never thought one day would that busy.

"Well, I gotta go now. The Richards cousins need me" Sam said suddenly when she saw the two cousins waving at her.

"Yeah...so, I'll see you tonight at the concert?" Mary asked.

"No problem. Meet me outside around 30 minutes before it starts" Sam said and waved at Mary before walking up the rich cousins.

It was 1 hour left before the concert started and Danny still hadn't gotten his tickets. By now he had given up hope and decided to just go by himself since he after all was in charge of the security. A lot of important people were going to be at the concert and Ed would kill him if the security weren't tight.

Danny was walking slowly through the casino and scanning the room for anything suspicious. Instead he saw Sam with the Richards cousins at their craps table. She was leaning in close to the oldest cousin and apparently he made some kind of joke, because she started to laugh. Danny knew what she would do to please her clients and make them come back to the Montecito, which made him admire her more for her work.

He knew he couldn't get any tickets so therefore he decided to apologize to her.

"Don't look now, but it looks like we're about to get company. Or at least you" Nessa said when she noticed Danny coming walked towards their table. Sam stopped laughing and just stood there next to her client with a weak smile.

"Look, before you say anything, I just wanna say I'm sorry. I had no right to exploit you like that. We're friends and I am really sorry for being an ass" Danny said in one breath while Sam gave him a very serious look. Nessa continued on her work, pretending not to be there. Although she knew she would have something really good to tell Delinda later. It wasn't often you would see Danny McCoy apologize like that to anybody.

"Let me guess; your date suddenly didn't wanna come?" Sam asked with a smirk.

"Something like that. Listen, are we...okay?" Danny asked and Sam glanced at Nessa.

"Why wouldn't we be? It was just tickets...nothing to fight about, right?" she said and acted like nothing ever happened. Nessa couldn't help but smile at Danny who looked completely stunned.

"Danny!" Sam suddenly said and he flinched.

"Yeah?" he asked, trying to act cool but it was to late now.

"Anything else? I'm pretty busy in case you hasn't noticed" Sam said and leaned down at the clients again with a pearly white smile. Danny cleared his throat and smiled nervously at Nessa before continue his round in the now crowded casino. But around 55 minutes later it was be almost empty because everybody would be at the concert. It was for a good cause and it was a very good thing that all the tickets were sold out. But Danny still felt a bit sorry for himself, even though he had given up on bringing a date.

"Hey, Danny! You going to the concert?" Mike Cannon yelled as he walked in through the main entrance. Danny stopped and walked over to him with a smile.

"Who isn't? You gonna bring anyone?" he asked.

"I'm gonna go with Nessa...hey, speaking of fine ladies, what happened to that hot thing you were gonna bring tonight?" Mike asked and Danny shrugged.

"Didn't feel like it" he said but Mike knew he wasn't being completely honest.

"You mean she didn't feel like it?" he said with a smirk and Danny punched him on the arm.

"Can't a guy do anything here without everybody else knowing about it?" he said and Mike shook his head with a laugh. Danny sighed and continued the final round through the casino.

The man lurked around the watchtower. He decided to wait until everybody was at the concert to make his move. Off course the watchtower wouldn't be completely empty, but he wasn't counting on that. All the help he needed was his partner and his loyal gun that was hidden inside of his coat. As a few guests walked on by, he simply took a seat at a slot machine waiting for the right moment to strike. He glanced over at Mary and Sam who walked past him, laughing and joking around as usual. They didn't notice him off course, which was expected.

He glanced down at his watch and picked up his mobile phone.

"Hey, it's me. Yeah, everyone is gone. Nah, just some guards up in the watchtower...nothing to worry about. Yeah, distract them until then. Later" he said in a low voice and quickly hung up the phone. He then slowly slide down from his seat and walked up to the watchtower. The guards was sitting on each side of the door, half a sleep and he known they wouldn't be much of a problem to him. He carefully walked up the stairs and glanced up at them. They hadn't heard or seen anything yet. He took of his coat and hidden it before continuing up the stairs.

"Slow night?" he said with a smirk and the guards were suddenly wide-awake.

"Who are you?" one of them asked and he took out his I.D from his pocket.

"I'm here to upgrade the security system while Big Ed is at the concert. Shouldn't take long so you guys just relax. Anybody inside?" he asked politely and both the guards nodded.

"Yeah, Mitch is inside. Better talk it through with him first before starting the upgrading" the other guard said and he smiled at them before walking into the surveillance room.

"Hello, my name is Frank Clark and I'm here about the upgrade of the security system. Big Ed told me to finish it all before he got back or he wouldn't be pleased" he introduced himself and Mitch turned around his wheelchair.

"Wow, that went fast. Ed just called your department yesterday" Mitch said and shook hands with him.

"Yeah, I got some extra time on my hands so my boss decided to send me here as quickly as possible. So...do you mind if I start right away? It's like a very slow night at the casino" he said and Mitch nodded.

"No problems. If Ed said so, I wont stop you. I'll be outside if you need anything" Mitch said and rolled doubt of the room. The man, whose name was not Frank Clark off course, walked up the main computer and started pressing some buttons. In a few minutes he had access to the whole security system; including transferring money. He wrote in some of the codes needed and then pressed 'Enter' before going back to the security system.

"Oh, Big Ed will get an upgrade alright...just not the one he ordered" he whispered to himself with a smirk and watched as the times on the cameras were switched. Now Ed wouldn't be able to tell anything right from wrong. And it would take a few hours to fix the entire virus he had planted in the system.

"So it begins..." he whispered and walked out of the room. He told Mitch about how smoothly the upgrade went and how Ed would be very pleased with his work.

"Thanks a lot. God, we've been waiting for the new system for months!" Mitch said with a grateful smile.

"No problem at all. Happy to do it! Send my greetings to Big Ed" he said and waved to Mitch before walking down the stairs with a smirk upon his face. The plan has gone even better then he had prepared. Now if only his partner managed to pull everything off at the concert, their plan would be completely perfect.


	3. Chapter 3

Mary and Sam stood in one of the dark corners, enjoying the music from a far. Both of them wasn't really in the mood to mingle but Sam knew that as soon as her clients called, she would have to rush over to them.

"How are you feeling?" Mary suddenly asked and Sam took out the little bottle of caffeine tabs. There was only four left and that meant she would actually be climbing on the walls by the end of the evening.

"Let's just say that if I ever sit down, you'll never get me back up again!" she shouted so that Mary would in spite of the very loud music. As if she wasn't both hungry and extremely worn out, now Sam had to deal with lost of hearing for about 2 whole hours. Life just wasn't fair sometimes.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you stay on your feet!" Mary shouted back and they both laughed.

In the front row, the whole Deline family was seated. Nessa was sitting next to Delinda, since she had been a member of their family for many years now. She and Delinda whispered to each other, commenting on the lead singer of the pop band on stage.

Further back, Mike and Danny were standing with some security guys and since it had been over 1 hour now since the concert started, both of them wanted so badly to leave.

"Oh man, I can't take this anymore! I thought this was gonna be an alright concert but I was so wrong!" Mike shouted to Danny, who nodded along. He glanced out over all the people and finally saw Mary and Sam in the corner on the other side. He knew they had made plans to meet up, because Mary had quickly turned him down earlier.

She was going to accompany Sam who was having a really busy day and needed someone to look after her. Danny understood that but still felt burn by Mary. Which had hardly ever happened before in all the years they had been best friends.

"Hey, what do you say about leaving? I know this great new hot club outside of the casino. And the ladies there are HOT!" Mike shouted and Danny laughed.

"Why not? It's not like we are needed for anything here. Let's go!" he shouted back and they headed for the exit door.

That's when they passed Mary and Sam, both busy joking around with each other. Danny couldn't help but stare at them before leaving. They didn't notice him or at least they were pretending not to.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the concert ended. Sam excused herself to Mary and walked up to her five clients from L.A to hear what they wanted to do next. Mary stood in the corner looking for Danny but couldn't see him anywhere. He had apparently been okay with the idea that Mary had turned him to go with Sam, but she knew deep down he was probably pissed at her. Which she didn't really care about at the moment.

After a few minutes Sam waved at Mary and they walked out to the casino, closely followed by the clients. They were all very hansom but also very polite. They all walked up to the reception and Sam gave them her card in case they needed something. The guys made a few jokes and then went up to the their suites. Thankfully, they wouldn't be coming down until the next morning. Which meant at least a few hours of sleep for Sam.

"God, I never thought I could miss my bed this much! Hopefully the tabs won't keep me up the rest of the night" Sam said with a smile as she bend down and got her mail from the girl in the reception. It was a bunch of invitations, letters from pleased clients and private messages.

"Well, how about you try to avoid them as much as possible in the future? I seriously don't think they are very good for you" Mary said and Sam patted her on the shoulder.

"Thanks for your concern, Mary, but it's okay. These tabs are the only thing keeping me sane at nights" she said and walked over to the elevators. It was getting close to midnight and Sam realized that she had been awake for 26 hours now, which actually wasn't anything compared to last week.

The elevator stopped at her floor and she quickly walked up to her door, still glancing through the mail. She unlocked the door and on her way to the bedroom, she dropped down the mail on the living room table. As soon as she had gotten out of the dress, she curled up under the clean cheats and slowly closed her eyes. Enjoying every minute in the king sized bed, knowing she could sleep for several hours now in silence.

The next morning, Sam rolled over in bed to avoid the sunshine shining into the bedroom. It was a beautiful day outside but she couldn't care less. All she wanted to do was to sleep. But when her mobile phone started vibrating out on the living room table, she reluctantly got out of the bed and stumbled out into the living room. She was too sleepy to even look at the caller ID and just answered it.

"Sam here..." she said and covered up a yawn with her other hand, while waiting for the caller to speak.

"Sam, where are you?" Danny asked and Sam sighed while sitting down in the sofa.

"Take a wild guess, Danny! Now, I want a damn good reasons why you called and woke me up!" she snapped although she probably didn't sound very threating considering how tired she still was.

"Well, how about you being late for your new clients? Good enough reason for you?" Danny asked and Sam froze. She walked into her bedroom and looked down at the alarm clock. Her shift had started 20 minutes ago and she had never overslept before since she started working as a casino host.

She quickly hung up the phone without saying anything to Danny and rushed into the bathroom. The following 10 minutes she spend dressing up to look better then the day before, since she was for the first time late. And these clients were extremely important which made the whole thing worse. On her way out of the suite, she grabbed her mobile phone and within minutes she was downstairs at the casino. There was no time to greet everybody like any other day. This day she nearly ran out of the elevator and quickly called Mystique to make sure which table her clients were at.

When she got there the clients didn't look very pleased to see her. She decided to just grab the bull by its horns and quickly moved to the table with a nervous smile. Thankfully, it didn't take long before her clients forgave her for being late and the meeting could begin. She realized to late that she forgotten her palm pilot up in the hotel suite but luckily she didn't seem to need it for this meeting.

"Hey! How did it go with the L.A guys?" Mary asked and Sam glanced down at her watch.

"Well, at least they're not going to another casino, which I probably would have done if the casino host had been 30 minutes late" she said and took out one caffeine tab out of the little bottle. It was only noon yet but Sam felt like hell already. She knew that if she sat down again she wouldn't get up. And considering how the day had started, she would do whatever it took to prevent that from happening.

"You really should try to take it more easy. I probably wouldn't last one day being the casino host...no, I take that back; I know I wouldn't last one day!" Mary said and Sam smiled at her before moving on to her other clients.

She had meetings to arrange, dinner tables to reserve, dices to blow on and being some clients little muse at the gambling tables. Which would in the end take all day. At least no new clients would be arriving that day, and if so Sam wouldn't last another 24 hours without sleep.

"Hey, Sam!" Danny suddenly yelled and Sam turned for a second and then kept on walking.

"What's up, Danny?" she asked with her eyes on her palm pilot which she had collected from the hotel suite during her clients were having lunch. When it came to her having lunch, it probably would occur at dinnertime the earliest. Which she had gotten used after the first week working at the Montecito.

"I heard you needed a few extra security guards for the gambling contest" he said and panted a bit after catching up to her. She looked down at her palm pilot and checked the time for the gambling contest.

"Yeah, that's right. Some of my most important clients will be entering and considering how rich they all are, it wouldn't surprise me if anybody in the crowd have sticky fingers" she said and glanced down at her watch for the hundred time.

"Okay, so many do you need?" Danny asked and she checked out how many of her clients would enter the contest.

"About five" she said and walked into Mystique. Danny slowly turned around and walked back up to the watchtower. In the mean time, Sam was busy entertaining some clients with dinner and making promises about the gambling contest. Only the riches were to enter in the contest and it was her job to make sure they had all the security needed to protect their money, which would soon be the Montecito's money.

"I see you then, gentlemen!" she said with a smile and finally walked out of Mystique. She picked up her phone and called Mary as she walked past one of the security cameras.

"I mean, is five guards really needed? We are short as it already is" Danny said and Ed slowly took his eyes of the camera monitor that Sam had just passed.

"I'm not even going to give you all the reasons why you're gonna get Sam those five guards for her clients, because that means that I would have to fire you" he said and Danny knew better then argue with Big Ed.

"Five guards coming up!" he said and walked down the stairs. Ed turned his attention back to the monitors and watched as Danny came down on the floor and started walking in the same direction as Sam had done moments earlier.


	4. Chapter 4

The gambling contest went better then hoped for. Sam's clients lost enough money to give her another raise and Ed looked impressed enough to actually give her one. After it all had ended, the L.A guys went back home but promised to return next month for years to come in the future. This made Sam so happy that she walked around with a smile the rest of the evening. She still had a few clients left to please before she could call it night and hit the bed. The last caffeine tab had gone a few hours earlier, which meant she wasn't tired at all yet.

"Hello! Any mail for me?" Sam asked as she leaned over the reception counter with a big smile. Nothing could ruin what was left of the day and she knew she would have sweet dreams that night.

"Here you go, ms Marquez" the young woman said with a bright smile and handed Sam a few envelops.

It was letters from pleased clients that planned on coming to the casino soon again or had even recommended some of their rich friends to come up for a visit. Sam became even more pleased with herself and glanced down at her watch. Her last clients for the day was waiting for her and she quickly turned around, only to bump into Danny and Mike.

"Woah, watch out!" Mike yelled out with a smile and Sam gave him one of her famous stares.

"Sorry that I can't stay and play boys, but I got clients awaiting. See you guys tomorrow!" she said and winked at them before walking away towards to Mystique.

"Man, you would think all she does is work and sleep!" Mike said and Danny glanced at Sam as she slowly disappeared amongst all the people in the casino.

Sam slipped out of her high heels and quickly became a lot shorter then before. She had been on her feet all day and as she sat down in the couch, she nearly fell a sleep immediately. But she knew she had mail to check through, reservation to double check and to get out of the dress that nearly kept her from breathing. She slow sat up in the sofa and looked at the pile of mail from last night and decided to go through them first.

The letters from pleased clients could wait so she checked the only bill she had and wasn't surprised to see the four-digit sum written down on the paper. She sighed and then noticed a little piece of paper. It wasn't in any envelope so she decided to just take loot it straight away. It was folded several times and when she had unfolded she realized how small it really was. The message inside was very short, only a few lines, written down in ink. The handwriting looked like a mans and Sam tried to think of anybody who leave her a little note like this, but came up blank.

"Come to the Beach if you hold the money dear or there wont be anything left" she slowly read out loud and leaned back in the couch. She rubbed her forehead and tried to think of how the note ended up in her mailbox. All her savings was safe from everybody but herself and her enemies didn't use silly notes to threaten her. She held up the note and that's when she noticed there was something written on back of the paper.

"To E.D from T.L" she read and it suddenly became clear to her. The note was addressed to Ed and not her which meant somebody, hardly an old friend, was blackmailing Ed.

Sam got of the couch and put on her boots again before rushing out of the suite. She stood and read the note several times again in the elevator, and still couldn't believe how anybody could so stupid that they would blackmail Big Ed Deline. They wouldn't success and on top of that, probably suffer the wrath of Ed, which was far much worse, then death row.

Sam nearly ran out of the elevator and tried to stay calm, because that was she was known for when it didn't concern her clients, but this time she couldn't help but panic.

"Hey Sam, have you...Sam? Sam? Hey, Sam!" Mary suddenly shouted when Sam walked on by her. She was getting closer to the watchtower by every step, when Mary grabbed her arm.

"What?" Sam snapped and Mary gave her an annoying look. Normally, Sam would immediately apologize to Mary but right now she had more important things on her mind.

"What's with you? First you're acting deaf and now you're snapping at me? Look, I know you're probably not having the best day but you don't take it out on me, okay?" Mary said and Sam held back a groan.

"Listen, Mary, I don't really have time for this now. Now, please let go of my arm or your day will not be very pleasant either" Sam said and moved up close to Mary. She had never seen Sam like that, not even during their first meeting all those months ago. This time she was actually threating to hurt her and Mary quickly let go of her.

Sam turned around and walked up the stairs to the watchtower, while Mary walked back to Nessa and Delinda while trying to figure what just happened between her and Sam.

Up in the watchtower, Sam walked into the surveillance room where Danny and Ed were watching monitors as usual.

"Sam? I thought your shift had ended already" Danny said and Ed turned around as he heard the sounds of Sam's heels entering the room.

"Well, it has. I just needed to give you this, Ed" she said and took out the neatly folded note. With unsure footsteps she walked up to Ed and held out the note.

"What is this suppose to mean?" Ed asked and looked everything but amused. He knew it couldn't be her wanting to leave the Montecito because she had decided to stick around the casino.

"Just read it" Sam said and Danny got out of his chair. He slowly walked around the desk and glanced over at the note. Ed unfolded and read the same thing Sam had read a few minutes earlier. His face didn't tell anything about his reaction but Sam could only imagine in her worse nightmares how pissed off he was at this point.

"Where did you get this from?" he asked silently without taking his eyes of the paper.

"It was in my mail box last night...but I didn't read it until now" Sam said and now Danny was being extremely curious what it said in the note. He nudged Sam but she didn't even glance at him.

"Danny, get your ass over The Beach casino and check the employee lists for anybody named 'T.L'...and you don't leave that damn casino until you've find something worth reporting about!" Ed snapped and put the note in his pocket.

"What? Why am I going to The Beach....Ed, what was in that note?" Danny asked and Sam quickly stepped in between him and Ed.

"Ed, why don't I go with him? That way you'll get all the info you need" she blurted out and looked up at Ed with a nervous smile. On her other side, Danny was looking both scared and confused at the same time.

"Sorry, Sam, but I'm not going to let you walk in there playing detective. We don't even know what kind of sick bastard this is yet and that's why you're staying here at the Montecito" Ed said and Danny was just about to say something, when Sam covered his mouth with her hand while keeping her eyes at Ed.

"Look, Ed, you just can't send Danny over there without telling him all the facts. So why don't I fill him on the way? Besides, this guy won't even notice me!" she said with an angelic smile this time. But it didn't work on Ed.

"Not gonna happen, Sam, so give it a rest! Danny, get going...now!" Ed said and looked up over Sam's head, into Danny's terrified eyes. Sam knew there was no reason with Big Ed so she just stood there, looking pissed.

"I'm gone" Danny finally said and quickly walked down the stairs. Sam leaned on his desk and gave Ed a long stare, which always worked on everybody else. Everybody except Ed Deline off course. When she had been staring long enough, she turned and walked towards the stairs.

"That better be you heading up to your suite" Ed said with his back against her, staring at the monitors.

"And that better be you butting out of my business...my shift has ended, remember?" Sam said and walked down the stairs, blocking out the next thing Ed shouted. It wasn't hearing after all.

"What are you doing? Ed told you to stay at the Montecito!" Danny said as Sam got in his car.

"Oh, don't be such a wimp, Danny! Ed doesn't own me!" she said with a devious smile and Danny knew she got kicks from pissing Ed off. She had been doing it from time to time, and Danny couldn't believe she had the guts to keep doing it. Especially since Ed had been furious over the message in the note.

"You do know Ed will have my head for this? He'll never hit a woman but me...I'll be as good as dead!" Danny said and Sam leaned in closer. She was so near she could probably smell Danny's fear by now.

"Well, since we are friends, I'm wont tell if you wont...I just couldn't imagine working at The Montecito without you watching over me through the monitors!" she said in a low, sexy voice and Danny started the car without saying anything. Sam leaned back in her seat with a satisfied smile and closed her eyes as the yellow car drove out of the parking lot.

"So...when are you gonna fill me in?" Danny asked as they were driving along the highway towards The Beach Casino that was located across Las Vegas.

"Oh, something about blackmailing I think" Sam said, looking like it didn't even bother her anymore. Which it did but she refused to let Danny see that.

"Blackmailing? Somebody is dumb enough to blackmail Ed Deline?" Danny asked and Sam nodded without looking his way. She was busy enjoying the fresh air and knowing she was free for several hours to come.

"They probably wont live to see the sunrise" she said and Danny laughed. They both knew that it wasn't any joke but Danny was glad that Ed was pissed at somebody else for a change then him.

"Did you and Mary have fun last night?" Danny suddenly blurted out and in that exact same moment, he so badly wanted to take it back. It was something he had been thinking about all day but refused to ask about. Especially not Sam who went from good to bad as often she changed her outfits.

"You have to ask your best friend about that" Sam said and this made Danny even more curious.

"Why can't you just answer the question? Unless...did something happened last night?" he asked and this time Sam gave him of her legendary stares. If looks could kill, he would definitely already be dead.

"You know what...bite me!" she snapped and looked away again. This made Danny absolutely sure that something had happened.

"Okay, Sam, spit it out! I know Mary and whatever happened can't be that bad..." he started of saying, but Sam cut him off by turning on the radio. She curled up in the seat and looked out over the pitch-black Las Vegas.

"Hey! Hey! First of all; nobody touches my radio except me, and secondly; answer my question!" Danny said and quickly turned off the radio. Sam sighed and turned to face him.

"You just can't stand that me and Mary are friends, can you? And I bet it hurt your ego pretty bad when she turned you down last night. Well, I may not know all your life long history and I don't really care...so please, stop acting like a baby! Nothing happened and considering I have been without my caffeine tabs for hours now, I suggest you just keep that pretty mouth of yours shut until we get to The Beach!" she said and kept her eyes on the road, pretending like Danny wasn't even in the car.

Only a few minutes later they were at The Beach. It didn't look like there were a lot of people there so Danny hoped that the whole assignment wouldn't take long. Because he just couldn't stand Sam's bad mood much longer that evening. She stepped out of the car without saying anything, quickly walking up to the main entrance.

"Sam, wait! Look, Ed asked me to check this out alone and that's what I'm gonna do. You just happen to follow me around, but that's it; no talking to anybody and no snooping around...leave that to me" Danny said.

"And what makes you think you can do it this alone? I know about that message then you do...besides, you have no idea how good I am on getting information out of people" she said and gave Danny a lingering look before walking in through the huge glass doors.

"Oh, but I really don't care! Sam, you're gonna stay out of this, got it? I have orders to follow and those include not bringing you in danger. Especially not since you're suppose to be back at your hotel suite...Sam, are you even listening to me?" Danny asked and grabbed her arm. She stopped immediately and sighed before turning around and facing him.

"Yeah, Danny, I heard you!" she said and Danny let go of her arm.

"Good" he said with and Sam slowly turned around again.

"But that doesn't mean I'm gonna do as you say..." she added in a low voice, but loud enough for Danny to hear her, and started walking in a fast paste towards the reception.

"What? Sam, wait...!" Danny yelled and nearly ran after her.

The couple really stood out on the camera monitor. As soon as they had gotten inside, the guy clearly wanted to warn his girlfriend about something. Probably not to gamble all their life savings away on poker or roulette. After their very short conversation the girlfriend had headed for the reception disk, looking like she was the dominant one in the relationship.

This was something that interested the stranger sitting behind his desk, watching the monitors. He kept an eye on the couple and finally made his decision. They were the right people for his private game. Some people would call it a contest where the losers ended up dead, but he always thought of it as a game where the real survivors walked away with their life and possibly some money if he was in a good mood.

And this couple, fighting by the reception, looked like they could need some action in their relationship.

"I want you to bring me these two...the Honeymooners" the man suddenly said without taking his eyes of the monitors. Another man, standing in a dark corner, nodded and disappeared out the door.

"Yes, I believe these are the right ones...let the games begin" the man whispered to himself with a smirk.


	5. Chapter 5

Down in the reception, Sam and Danny wasn't having much luck at all. No 'T.L' was on any of the casino's lists and since the person behind the reception was a woman, Sam's looks didn't help at all. Not even Danny's boyish charm had no impact on the young woman.

"Well, thanks anyways" Sam said with a smile, although she really wanted to smack the woman instead. They turned around and looked out over the casino. Even though The Beach was nothing compared to The Montecito, it was huge and to big for two people to search through after one person.

"Well...where do you wanna start?" Sam asked and looked up at Danny.

"How about in the watchtower?" he said and Sam sighed. He was terrible at making jokes when it counted the most.

"Yeah, like they are gonna let you enter...we're the enemies, Danny! Besides, Ed would definitely have your head if he knew anybody in The Beach found out you work for him" she said and Danny knew she was right, but he still hated it. It always made her so smug and he couldn't wipe that smirk off her face even if his life counted on it.

"Fine, so what do you suggest we do? I didn't see you get much info out of that woman" he said and hinted towards the reception. Sam stared at him and started to seriously doubt that she had come with him.

"Well, unless you haven't notice, I'm not really into girls...they are more your department. Besides, I'm gonna get some info as soon as I find the right person" she said and that's when Danny noticed a man in a black suit coming walking towards them.

"How about him?" he asked with a smirk and Sam held back a groan. Nobody could piss her off more easily then Danny McCoy and every time she felt like killing him. Or at least making him suffer.

"Excuse me, but my supervisor have requested to see you" the man said in a very polite tone. Sam and Danny glanced at each other, not really knowing what to say or do.

"Okay..." Danny said and the man smiled at them, his eyes resting on Sam. She didn't even want to know what he was thinking and gave him one of her looks.

"Follow me" the man then said and they kept their distance to him through the casino.

"If he looks at me once more, he's going down!" Sam whispered to Danny and he couldn't help but smile at her comment.

It was typical Sam to react like that whenever a man looked at her the wrong way. Other women he knew would take it as a compliment but never Samantha Marquez. It just wasn't like her.

"I hold him down while you kick him with those stiletto heels of yours" he whispered back and Sam punched him in the side before walking a few steps faster. When the man suddenly stopped and opened a door, leading down a few stairs, Sam immediately stopped and stared at him.

"Your boss is waiting for us down in the basement?" she asked, making it sound like hell itself. Danny didn't look to keen on walking down there but knew that he had to since Ed would otherwise break both his legs.

"Yes, he is. And he is really looking to meeting you...both of you" the man added on the end and Sam glanced back at Danny.

"Well, then, let's not keep him waiting!" Danny suddenly said with a smile and started walking down the stairs. Sam stood still for a moment, not really knowing what to do. She refused to wait up there by herself and the man kept staring at her, which gave her the creeps, so she quickly started walking down the stairs.

"Danny, it's really important for me to make sure you realize how much I wanna kick your ass right now!" she whispered to Danny who held back a laugh. They walked through a long corridor and finally ended up outside a steel door. Both of them turned around, waiting for the creepy man to let them in. He took out a key and unlocked the door with a smile that made Sam wanting to smack the living daylight out of him.

"Waiting for another invitation?" another man said from inside the dark room and Danny glanced at Sam before walking in through the door. He had a bad feeling about this and whished that Sam hadn't come with him, since this guy could turn out to be really dangerous and that Ed would even more dangerous if he found out about the whole thing.

"Welcome to my office...Honeymooners" the man said and turned on a desk lamp. The way he talked made Danny's bed feeling only increase but this time Sam seemed to be more upfront then him. She took a step closer to the man and Danny wanted to pull her back, but didn't to risk anything.

"How could you know?" Sam asked with a smile and the man leaned back in his chair, giving her a pleased look.

"It's all in the eyes, my dear" the man said and pointed at the monitors. Sam glanced at them and was surprised at how many cameras there was in the casino, which was much smaller then The Montecito.

"So what brings you two lovebirds to my casino?" the man asked and Danny was just to correct him, but Sam put her hand and cut him off.

"My boyfriend's idiot of a brother wasted all our money here last week and I'm here to win them back" she said and the man smiled at her. The fact that it wasn't his casino she wasn't going to point out and neither was Danny.

"So what's your pleasure?" the man asked and Danny almost started to panic now. He didn't know anything about Sam's abilities to gamble, if she even had any. She was an incredible casino host but he had always thought that was it.

"Poker" she suddenly said and Danny was stunned. Since when had Sam started playing poker? If she didn't know what she was doing, both their asses was on the line. And they still didn't know who this man was.

"How much are you in for? And what makes you think I'm willing to let you play in my circle?" the man asked.

"$100.000...and trust me, I'll make your friends look like amateurs" Sam said ice cold and the man laughed.

"I like you, ms...?" he asked and Sam leaned down towards him.

"Samantha" she said and he looked even more pleased.

He hadn't met anybody with this kind of courage before, especially no woman. This Samantha was priceless and she liked to bet high. The others had been more careful which had made it clear that they were no survivors in his circle. But these two was, even if the boyfriend didn't really make a good first impression.

"Well, Samantha, you and your boyfriend are on. The game begins tomorrow night at 10:00 AM...don't be late, because I would hate to see you lose" the man said and Sam smiled at him.

"Oh, don't worry, mr...?" she asked and the man leaned in closer to her.

"Call me....The Leader" he whispered with a smile that gave Danny the creeps.

"You can't be serious, Sam! There's no way Ed is gonna let you go through with is!" Danny yelled in the car on their way back to The Montecito.

"Danny, how many times do I have to repeat myself? We're not going to tell Ed anything about the game tomorrow night!" she said and Danny let out a sarcastic laugh.

"No way, Sam! I'm not gonna let you enter some stupid poker contest so that you can prove something to that Leader guy! And I'm sure Ed knows how to deal with the situation a whole lot better!" Danny said and suddenly noticed that a car was following them. He hadn't thought about it, but realized that the car had been right behind them since they left The Beach.

"Oh yeah, like that is gonna stop me! You know, would it kill you to do something before telling Ed about it first? All we are doing here is getting his money back! What is the harm in that?" Sam said and Danny quickly turned of the main road.

"The harm is that we may not make it out alive!" he yelled back and Sam was to fire up to really notice that they were travelling on a dark, lonely path. But Danny kept an eye on the car, which was still following them.

"God, you're so dramatic! It's a poker game! And never mind how, but I'm damn good at it so why don't you just...!" Sam was interrupted by Danny suddenly kissing her. It all happened so fast that she had no time to really react to the kiss.

When Danny pulled back he noticed that the strange car was going back to the main road and knew they were out of danger. That is, until he remembered what he had just done. He had kissed Samantha Marquez. The same woman who otherwise managed to push his buttons and nearly drove him nuts with her whole attitude. He liked her as a friend, nothing else, and couldn't believe that he now had kissed her.

"Look, Sam, I..."

And this it was Danny's turn to be interrupted by Sam. She pulled him in close and this time the kiss lasted longer then before. None of them really knew what was going on, but they didn't pull away from each other. Whatever it was happening between them in that moment, they liked it.

Back at The Montecito, Ed was waiting for Danny up in the watchtower. He checked his mobile phone again with a groan when he saw that Danny hadn't contacted him yet. So he decided to go down the floor while waiting. It was a crowded night but everybody behaved themselves so Ed figured he could spare a walk around the casino.

He saw Nessa and Mary talking with each other at one of the tables, and decided to check in with them.

"Hey girls" he said as he walked up to them. Mary turned with a big nervous smile like she always did when Ed talked to her.

"Hey Ed" Nessa said, calmly as ever when she talked to Ed, and watched the deals happening at the table. Her shift had ended but since Mary wanted to talk to her about something, she had decided to stick around the tables.

"How is everything going down here?" Ed asked, noticing how nervous Mary seemed. She could sometimes be that around him but this time it was different.

"The money is rolling in as usual...why?" Nessa said with a smile and Mary didn't know what to say. There really was nothing going on down on the floor other then what Nessa just had stated.

"Just checking" Ed said and shrugged. He glanced at Mary who quickly looked away. Nessa seemed to be the only one not acting strange of the three.

"So you are just bored? I didn't even know that was possible" she said with a teasing smile and walked away from the table. She looked at Ed, who didn't really know how to answer to that. And he didn't need to, because suddenly Mary noticed Danny coming walking towards them with a weird look upon his face.

"Hey, where you have been?" she asked and walked up to him. Ed turned around and Danny froze without saying anything at first. Nessa and Mary looked at each other, being equally confused at this point.

"What the hell took you so long? You were suppose to call me back before coming walking in here!" Ed snapped and walked up close to Danny, staring him straight in the eyes. If Danny didn't knew any better, he would say that Ed would already inflict some kind of pain on him for just forgetting to call.

"Sorry, Ed, but I couldn't get out of there faster. But I do have some good news" he said and Ed glanced over at Mary and Nessa, before turning his attention back at Danny.

"My office. Now!" he whispered and started walking back to the watchtower.

"Woah! What was that about?" Mary asked and Danny couldn't allow himself to even look at her.

"Business" he just said and walked quickly after Ed up to the watchtower.

"Is it just me or is Danny becoming more like Ed every day?" Mary asked and looked at Nessa.

"It's just you, Mary" Nessa said with a teasing smile and both women walked away laughing.

"So, what you're telling me is that this sick son of a bitch thinks of The Beach as 'his' casino?" Ed repeated and Danny nodded.

"That's what he said. And he got tones of camera monitors down in his office, I'm guessing they're planted all over the casino by his men" he said and was careful not to mention Sam. Because he knew if he did, Sam would also have his head probably before Ed. So he knew it was in his best interest to keep quiet.

"His men? So he has a little crew of sick bastards now? Well, did you manage to find out why he send that note to The Montecito?" Ed asked, trying to calm down.

"Well...not exactly. He didn't mention any of that and he didn't give me a chance to ask about it, before he ordered me to leave" Danny said and Ed looked fairly calm still. But Danny it was just a matter of time before he would completely freak out.

"And...?" Ed whispered. Danny looked confused and leaned forward.

"And what? That's what happened. He just ordered to me to leave and if I hadn't God knows what he had done then!" he said and Ed gave him another of him long stares.

"Cut the crap, Danny. I can tell there's something you're not telling me and you better do it fast, because I'm having a really bad day" he said after a while and Danny swallowed. He didn't know exactly how to tell him about the poker contest the following night. That would mean Ed probably could figure out that Sam was in on it.

"Okay, look, I heard him bragging about some kind of poker night with his buddies. But I swear, I don't know where or when it's gonna happen. He never told me that much!" Danny said and looked completely innocent. Some how he had managed to make Ed believe that he didn't know when the contest began.

"Well, that's good. At least you got some information out of him. So...did you guys agree on meeting again?" Ed asked and once again Danny didn't know what to say.

"No, I don't think so. He never said anything about a second meeting to me" Danny said finally and hoped it was enough for Ed.

"Okay. Well, I don't think we have enough to go in there and arrest his sorry ass, so you just have to go back there. Make him talk about The Montecito without acting to much like a cop. You think you can do that?" Ed asked suddenly and Danny looked up at him, completely stunned for a moment.

"You want me...to go back? Ed, what if this guy isn't all talk next time?" he asked slowly beginning to panic. Sam had handled The Leader far better then him, but he couldn't say that to Ed.

"Oh I'm sorry, am I mistaken you with somebody who used to be a Marine?" Ed asked and Danny sighed.

"Okay, fine! I'll go back there tomorrow" he said and got out of the chair.

"Hey Danny..." Ed suddenly said just as Danny was about to go downstairs. Danny slowly turned, not liking the tone of his voice. This couldn't be any good news.

"Yeah?" he said, slowly turning around and facing Ed again.

"Could you tell Sam that I would like to have a word with her first thing tomorrow? I realize this means she doesn't get to sleep in, but I don't care. Just give her the message, alright?" Ed asked and Danny.

He walked down the stairs from the watchtower, feeling like such a creep. He had just lied Ed right in the face and when it got out he would be a very dead man.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam took a deep breath and quickly walked out of the elevator. It was a new day, which meant that yesterday was already history to her. And hopefully to Danny. She glanced around the casino while she was walking towards the watchtower. Late last night she had gotten a message under her hotel door, and right then she knew it couldn't be good news. And she had been right as usual. The message was from Ed and apparently was so important she needed to step out of bed earlier. Which she didn't mind at all since it was Ed after all. She felt as it was already and she wasn't sure how she would react during a morning conversation with Ed Deline.

"Ed, you wanted to see me" Sam said as she walked into the surveillance room. Ed turned around and got out of his chair.

"Yeah...I wanted to talk to you about last night. Sit down" he said and hinted at the chair right next to Sam.

"No thanks, I'll rather stand. So what about last night?" she asked, tightly squeezing her mobile phone. It was her only way to keep calm. She hated when Ed just didn't come right out and said what was on his mind.

"Look, I know you got pissed because you didn't get to go with Danny to check out this whole thing. And I just wanna make sure you know why" Ed said and walked up closer to her. He gave her one of his long stares that usually got Danny confessing straight away. But it didn't work the same way on Sam.

"Sure. You don't want me getting hurt and I respect that. However, I've been taken care of myself since I was seventeen and I still can without any problems" she said, staring back at him.

"I don't doubt that, Sam, but it's just that sometimes you gotta trust people to help you out...even if it's hard to except" Ed said and Sam knew he meant well, but she refused to confess anything.

"Yeah, well, that's easy to say when you got so many people to trust..." she said and turned and walked towards the stairs.

"Some day you'll realize that you also got that" Ed said and Sam froze for a moment. She glanced at him one last time before continuing down the stairs.

Soon the shift would be ending and at 10:00 AM it was time to play poker. Sam smiled at her clients and walked over to the reception as any other night, glancing down at her watch. She asked for her mail as usual and as usual there was tones of letters for her. But tonight she didn't care how many rich new clients she could be getting by the end of the month, because all she could bare to think about was the poker game.

"Hey, Sam, got a minute?" Mary asked as she suddenly appeared next to Sam.

"Yeah, but that's also all I got...what's up?" Sam said glancing down at her watch, waiting for Mary to start talking.

"Me and the girls are considering having a night on the town. You know, getting away from The Montecito for a few hours" Mary said and Sam looked up her, knowing where this conversation was going.

"Look, I would love to come but I got tones of stuff to do" she lied and showed Mary the stack of letters in her hand.

"But I thought your shift had ended?" Mary asked confused and Sam deep down wanted to tell her the real truth, but realized that would only cause more problems.

"Yeah, but I can't seem to catch a break! I need to answer all these letters, organize for tomorrow's clients and call a man about a table at Mystique. Besides, I'm still feeling pretty worn out thanks to those damn caffeine tabs" she said with a weak smile and it looked like Mary actually believed. After years of lying to people, Sam wasn't surprised that everybody believed her. Sometimes that was one of the things that made her feel so lonely at nights.

"Oh...well, I guess it can wait" Mary said and Sam shook her head.

"No! No! You and the girls shouldn't suffer a boring night in just because I got some boring work things to do. You go out and have a blast! Just promise to give me all the juicy details tomorrow!" she said and winked at Mary.

"Oh, I hardly think I'm gonna have details to tell at all. But I'm pretty sure Nessa and Delinda will" Mary said and they hugged before she headed for the main entrance. Sam could see Nessa and Delinda standing outside in their typical party clothes, and she quickly turned around and walked over the elevators. It was almost 55 minutes left before the poker game and she began to panic inside. As the elevator slowly moved up to her floor, Sam tried thinking of a new lie to tell Ed the next day. She knew Danny hardly could think of any explanation as to how he had won all the money back like that.

Neither of them said anything on the drive to The Beach. Danny had tried to talk Sam out of entering the poker game before they left, but she had refused just like he knew she would.

"There's still time to back out" Danny said as he parked the car outside the casino.

"No there isn't..." Sam said, glancing at him while getting out of the car. The casino was packed with people and when Sam saw the creepy man, she deep down wanted to walk out and never look back. But she knew this time that wasn't an option. She was risking both their lives at this point, and she didn't even want to think about what The Leader would do to their friends back at The Montecito if she didn't enter the contest.

"He's expecting you" the creepy man said and stared at Sam but she didn't care. She just started walking as if her life depended on it. Danny made sure he was right behind her at all times in case something should happen. They both walked down the stairs to the basement without hesitating and the long dark corridor didn't scare either of them this time.

"So you came after all, Samantha" The Leader said with a pleased smile when they entered his dark office.

"Like promised...Leader" Sam said with a smirk and he got out of his chair.

"This way" he said and pointed at another steel door in between the camera monitors. Sam didn't even glance at him before she opened it up and walked inside.

"Players only" the creepy man said to Danny who was going inside as well. The Leader gave him a long stare and then closed the door behind him. Danny knew it wouldn't do him any good by breaking through that door so he walked crossed the office and sat down. This was going to be a very long waiting together with the creepy man staring at him non-stop.

"It's been a pleasure playing with you, Samantha. To bad it was a one time deal for you" The Leader said as he opened up the steel door. Sam glanced at him before walking into the office. She was caring a black briefcase, filled with all the money The Leader had stolen from The Montecito somehow.

"Sadly, I can't say the same. You better tell your...friends that they need some serious practice" she said ice cold to him and walked over to Danny with a smirk on her face.

"Wait, did you...?" Danny asked but couldn't allow himself to finish the sentence. The briefcase was there in Sam's hand but he still didn't dare to believe it. Had it been so simple for her to win it all?

"Yeah. It's all in here...honey" Sam added, suddenly remembering that they were suppose to be a couple. Danny put his arm around her shoulders and they walked out of the office while the creepy man followed them like last time.

The Leader sat back down in his chair and looked at the monitors broadcasting the corridor and stairs. There was something very different with those two. She had been far more good in poker then he would have ever guessed in his wildest dreams. And nobody was that good their first time in a poker game with former champions.

"What secrets are you hiding, Samantha...?" he whispered, keeping an eye on Sam through the monitors with a smirk.

Sam and Danny got into his car and drove off as quickly as possible. The briefcase was lying safely in Sam's knee and she herself couldn't understand why The Leader had let her win so easily. She could tell that he was a very good poker player and had probably never lost a game in his life. And all of the sudden he lost to her?

"So...how good are you?" Danny suddenly asked and Sam lost her train of thoughts.

"As good as years of private lessons can make you" she said without looking at him. She had never really told anybody about her hidden talents when it came to poker. It wasn't exactly something she liked to brag about.

"Private lessons? Who taught you to play like that?" Danny asked, becoming more curious by Sam's strange answer.

"Just someone I knew a long time ago..." she said and looked down at the briefcase.

"You really don't like sharing, do you?" Danny asked after a while and Sam looked up at him. There wasn't much anybody over at The Montecito knew about Sam's life before she started working with them, and they hadn't really cared either. But Danny found himself wondering about it sometimes. And now was the perfect moment to ask her.

"What happens outside of work is my business and nobody's else's. Besides, it's not like I hear any of you guys telling heart breaking childhood stuff" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, I don't go around bragging about my past at work. But sometimes it just feels good to get some thing out of your system...don't you never do that?" Danny asked and Sam shrugged.

"I don't have anything to get out my system. It's as cleared out as it can be. And there's a reason it's called a 'past' you know" she said and looked away again.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't talk about it" Danny said and stopped the car at a red light.

"Well, have you ever considered that that's the way I want it?" Sam asked, once again with sarcasm.

"I guess. But then again you gotta be sick of keeping everything bottled up inside...right? You're only human, Sam" he said without taking his eyes of the traffic light.

"Don't remind me" she said under her breath but Danny had heard her. Sometimes he just couldn't figure her out; she acted like she was above everyone else. But Danny had also seen a softer side of her from time to time. When she was around Mary and the other girls she wasn't so tough anymore.

"It must get pretty lonely" he suddenly said out loud without planning on doing so.

"Don't you ever shut up?" she snapped and Danny knew he had hit a soft spot. The light turned green and he turned left, catching a glimpse of The Montecito now.

"So are you sure...The Leader wont want some payback? After all, it wasn't exactly a few dollars you just won back there" he said while they were closer to the casino.

"I don't really care. Once Ed's got the money he and the police can arrest The Leader's sorry ass before he robs some other casino...you know, I still can't believe how he got his hands on the money!" Sam said, glad that Danny had finally changed the subject. She could talk about anything except her personal life. That was off limits for everybody, even Ed.

"Me neither. But we'll figure that out soon enough" Danny said and any minute now they were entering The Montecito parking lot. Sam put the briefcase in the small backseat and still avoided looking at Danny. It had been a very long and exhausting day, and all she could think about was getting up to her precious bed.

"Just drop me off over there...that way, nobody will see us going in together. Wouldn't wanna give Mary the wrong impression, right?" she said with an ironic smile.

Danny slowed down the car and wanted to say something about their kiss the previous night, but knew Sam would probably joke it aside like most things he said. The car stopped and Sam got out, making sure she looked the same as when she had left. Danny kept on driving past her and she peaked through the big glass doors before entering the casino. It was over midnight and she hoped that nobody would suddenly show up, asking a hundreds questions about where she had been. Because she wouldn't probably have the strength to think of a good lie for it all.

The casino was still filled with people, screaming and laughing, so Sam just decided to walk straight to the elevators. She leaned against the wall and counted the floors slowly moving up in numbers. It felt like forever before the little bell rang and she could finally step out on her floor, walking only a few steps over to her suite. When she had gotten inside, she left the electronic card on the hallway table before walking into the dark bedroom. Without even slipping out of the dress, she fell down on the bed and seconds later everything went black before her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

"Mitch, give me last night's the pictures from the cameras at the elevators on the 10th floor" Ed said as he sat down on the desk. After a few minutes he was looking at people walking by the hotel suite.

"Show me pictures of that exact spot after 11:00 AM..." Ed mumbled and Mitch put up pictures of that spot from several different cameras close by. They kept staring at it until suddenly a short woman walked up to the door and unlocked it. Ed looked down in the corner of the monitor screen and noticed that the time was 12:15 AM when she had arrived to her suite.

"Okay, now give me this night's pictures...turning back the time" he said, holding his mobile in a very tight grip. He so badly wanted to be wrong but he wasn't; just a few minutes earlier Sam walked into her hotel suite. Where he had hoped she had been since her shift ended. That was what she had told Mary and Ed hadn't even tried to call her mobile, because he trusted her.

"Hey, Ed, you'll never..." Danny trailed off as soon as he saw the pictures of Sam entering her suite. Ed froze the picture and turned around with a deadly look upon his face. Suddenly the briefcase filled with money didn't seem so important.

"What the hell are you pulling here?" Ed snapped and Danny tried to think of anything clever to say. But he came up with nothing like usual when Ed confronted him like this.

"I guess my daughter wasn't enough...now Sam? Of all people, I never thought you could be such an ass!" Ed said ice cold and took a few steps closer. Danny was now officially confused and put down the briefcase on the floor.

"Look, Ed, it's nothing like that!" he said but Ed didn't seem to believe him at all.

"No? Well, you tell me what it looks like when the both of you leave the casino at the same time and then return both nights the same time? Because it sure as hell doesn't look good!" Ed whispered and now he was standing awfully close.

"Okay, I know this is gonna sound...incredible stupid but you gotta believe me when I say that I did for The Montecito!" Danny said and lifted up the briefcase on the desk.

"What the hell is this?" Ed snapped and Danny put his hand up while he tired to open the briefcase. It was really very simple but having Ed so close made him panic more then usual. Especially considering what Ed would do to him if he didn't tell the truth within the next few minutes. Then The Leader wouldn't appear so dangerous to him.

"This...is The Montecito's money that was stolen" Danny said when the briefcase finally popped open. Ed stared down at all the green bills and looked up at Danny.

"Where did you get this? And more important...how?" he asked and Danny glanced at the camera monitors.

"Last night when you told me to head over to The Beach...Sam came with me. I tried to talk her out of it but as usual she didn't listen. It was actually she who did all the talking with The Leader and that poker game he mentioned meant that we could get all The Montecito's money back..." Danny trailed off when he saw the look upon Ed's face.

"Okay, unless you are super human, you don't know much about playing poker. And especially not with guys such as this The Leader..." Ed started saying and Danny quickly cut him off.

"That's because it wasn't me who played against The Leader...it was Sam. She entered without saying anything to me first and decided to win back the $100.000 dollars stolen from here. That's where we were tonight; at The Beach. Only I didn't exactly do what you told me to" Danny explained as fast as possible. He just wanted to get everything out in the open and afterwards Ed just looked at him without saying anything at first.

"So...you brought Sam along in spite what I said and on top of that you let her enter a poker game with this The Leader? Now, I know what a pain in the ass Sam can be sometimes, but it was your job to make sure she was out of danger. She was suppose to here in her hotel suite and not helping you getting all the money back! Did you ever think about what would happen if The Leader found out the truth about you two? Who do you think is gonna suffer the most?" Ed snapped and waited impatiently for Danny's answer. It was obvious that he had messed everything up big time and his was his chance to smooth things over.

"Look, Ed..." Danny started saying but didn't get any further before he suddenly dropped to the floor. Ed turned around, picked up the briefcase and handed it over to Mitch who was completely stunned. He had seen Ed angry before but he had never punched Danny because of that.

"Make sure to get this to security" Ed said and turned around, facing the monitor again. He stared at the frozen picture of Sam sneaking into her hotel suite and started thinking of a way that would make sure she never went behind his back again.

After a couple of hours Ed decided it was time to wake up Sam. Letting her sleep in after what she had done would be sending the wrong message to the rest of his staff. He picked up the phone and was just about to call her when he noticed her on the monitors. The time was only 08:00 PM and she was never up that early. Her shift started at noon every day and she slept for as long as possible. She was the only one in the team that had that possibility since her working hours was a whole different then the others. Ed walked up to the monitor and studied Sam talking to some of her clients, laughing and being incredible cheerful considering how few hours of sleep she must have gotten. After a few minutes she answered her mobile phone and turned her back on the camera. In that moment Delinda and Mary walked past her, having a very interesting conversation judging from their faces. Sam then hung up the phone and turned her attention back to her clients. Nessa was standing at the side of the table, supervising the dealing as usual. The both girls glanced at each other with pleased smiles. Ed looked around at the other monitors and couldn't see anything else out of order. The one thing that left him puzzled was that Sam was awfully early and already had clients to attend. He usually knew about everything that went on with his team, which included their schedules.

He was suddenly interrupted by Danny coming up the stairs. The black eye from last night was showing clear and well, but Danny didn't hold that against Ed. He had after all taking it gentle considering that Danny had lied to him.

"Hey! What are you looking at?" Danny asked and walked to the monitor. He was as shocked as Ed to find Sam already working. Her shift wouldn't start for another few hours and she never went downstairs before that.

"Is it just me or is there something very familiar about this sequence?" Ed asked without taking his eyes of the screen.

"Yeah...it does look familiar. Hey, what is that?" Danny asked suddenly and pointed at the corner of the monitor. Sam was talking to Nessa about something when a stranger was at the slot machines, writing something down in his notepad. He kept looking up at the girls and then down at his notepad several times.

"I think we better go down and check this out" Ed said and both of them left the surveillance room in a hurry. Down on the floor from a far they could see Nessa walking around amongst the tables. It wasn't until they were closer that Danny realized she was wearing different clothes then on the camera monitor.

"Hey, Ness, where's Sam?" Danny asked and Nessa turned around facing them.

"How should I know? I've been here all morning without talking to anybody except a few guests" she said in her thick accent and Danny glanced at Ed.

"But we just saw you talking to Sam at this exact spot" Ed said and Nessa gave him a confused look.

"What? I haven't talked to Sam since yesterday afternoon...Ed, you better check those cameras. Because I haven't seen or talked to her at all this morning. Besides, her shift doesn't start yet for a while. You both know that" she said and walked over to one of the tables.

"Okay, this is not good. How come we are seeing pictures from yesterday? I thought Mitch said some guy had updated the system?" Danny said and Ed froze.

"Yeah...he did it while we were at that charity concert. Damn it!" he snapped and walked back to the watchtower. Danny hurried after, wanting to know what his boss had just realized.

"I bet that this guy tampered with our cameras instead of upgrading the system. Which would explain why we are looking at the pictures from yesterday. Mitch, check out the time on this sequence!" Ed snapped as he walked into the surveillance room again. Danny was right behind him and looked up at the monitors.

"You really think someone have tampered with them?" he asked while Mitch searched for the exact time when Sam and Nessa were being filmed down at the tables.

"I don't think, Danny, I know! What I don't know is why this stranger tampered with our cameras to make us think Sam was down working!" Ed snapped, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"This sequence was filmed at...5:00 AM yesterday" Mitch suddenly said and Ed looked at Danny, as to confirm that he was right.

"Okay, now that is not good. How could this guy just change this one monitor? The others seems to be current!" Danny said and pointing at the others.

"Yeah, well, people can do incredible things with computers without even being in the same room. My guess is that this guy is a friend of your The Leader...now, I wanna know exactly what happened last night, Danny" Ed said and turned to him.

"I don't know what happened during the poker game. Only players were allowed in there according to The Leader and I had to wait outside in his office with the creepy guy...and then after a few hours Sam comes out with a briefcase filled with money" Danny explained and took one step away from Ed. He didn't want to risk getting another black eye.

"You weren't even in the same room? So, she was alone in there with him for hours? You're head of security, Danny!" Ed yelled out and picked up the phone. He dialled Sam's number without even glancing at Danny.

"She's not answering. Let's go!" he said after a while and walked out of the room without even waiting for Danny to react. They knew Sam always carried with her mobile phone no matter where she went. And when she didn't answer something was wrong. Something that could only mean one thing this time. Something that involved a creepy man and a Leader.

"Damn it!" Danny yelled out when they saw Sam's mobile laying on her bed in the hotel suite. Ed picked it up and looked around in the room. Nothing had been touched or put out of the ordinary. It was as cleaned as Sam always kept it. Which would make it harder for them to figure out if she went out of the door or not. Ed walked back into the hallway and saw the electronic card lying on the table and then looked at Danny.

"Okay...how the hell did they manage to get to her? The door was locked and the card is still here" Ed said in a weird calm voice. Danny turned around and looked at the balcony.

"How about from outside?" he said and walked to the glass door.

"Either these guys are incredible stupid or they just don't have any limits...how could they manage to get her out of here through there?" Ed asked, beginning to worry more.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Considering how high it is both up and down, they couldn't have used ropes. Besides, that would attract the guests which would call the security and so on...they would never have gotten out of here unseen" Danny said and Ed picked up his mobile phone.

"Then we make sure that they don't. If we're lucky, they haven't left the casino yet" he said and Danny looked down at the parking lot. He didn't even want to imagine what The Leader would do to Sam if he had gotten her. She had cost him a lot of money and not even Sam could talk her way out of this situation. Especially not considering her attitude problems.

Sam slowly opened up her eyes and glanced around. It was still pretty dark and awfully quiet. She quickly sat up and felt how her head started spinning around.

"Careful, Samantha, wouldn't wanna have to give you more" The Leader said with a smirk and Sam turned around. When she found herself staring into his dark eyes she knew she was in big trouble.

"What are you doing here? And why does it feel like a truck just ran over my head? God...!" she said with a groan and rubbed the forehead with her fingertips.

"You should be asking yourself where you are...and don't worry, a little chloroform have never killed anyone. Although, I'm not so sure chloroform was needed after all. You seemed kinda out of it anyway" The Leader said and Sam looked around the spinning room. It wasn't his office like she first thought. This room was smaller, darker and seemed to only contain a sofa and a chair.

"Okay...where are we?" she asked and glanced down at the black sofa she was laying on. She quickly got up on her feet and became even dizzier this time.

"Doesn't matter. What matters is that I now know the truth about you and your 'boyfriend'...not very nice tricking me like that. But I have to admit that you are a damn good poker player. To bad we wont get the chance to play together again" The Leader said, still with the same smirk that made Sam want to smack him. But she knew that she didn't have any chance. She was the one who was trapped and he was the one holding the key to freedom.

"Afraid that I'm gonna beat you again?" Sam said, knowing she was pushing her luck but she didn't really care. The Leader wasn't going to brake her with that smirk or empty threats. She had survived worse things then this and had come out okay in the end.

"Could be. But it could also depend on the fact that you lied to me, Samantha. And I hate being lied to. Especially by someone like you...see, I don't care much for Ed Deline. And anybody who is involved with him in anyway is my enemy. I'm sure you can figure the rest out for yourself" The Leader said and the smirk was gone now. Sam knew he was really pissed off with her and decided to find out why he hated Ed so much.

"How did you know I work for him?" she asked after a while, this time in a soft tone of voice. When all she really wanted was to hurt him. But she forced herself to take it slow and easy.

"Samantha, I may be locked up in rooms such as this but that doesn't mean I'm stupid. After our first meeting I had a weird feeling about you and your 'boyfriend' so I decided to send Walker out to do some tailing. Now, when he came back telling me about your little...tongue wrestling, I have to admit I thought I was wrong about you. But when you then won over that exact sum of money that I 'borrowed' from The Montecito, I knew you were fooling me. So thanks to Walker and Smith I was shocked to find out you actually work at The Montecito. Hell, you even live there...! Can't afford anything else?" The Leader asked and Sam froze. She remembered Danny kissing her for no obvious reason and hadn't connected it until now. But finding out that The Leader even knew where she lived was worse. He had been following her around all along and she'd been to blind to notice it.

"You sick bastard! This is how you get your kicks; by stalking people and stealing money from other casinos?" Sam said, giving him a deadly look.

"What I did isn't much different from what Ed Deline do. Or are you to naive to see that, Samantha? I didn't take you for that kind of woman" The Leader said and got up from the chair.

"You don't know anything about me! Ed has been nothing but kind to me since I started working at The Montecito and only a coward like you would try to ruin it all" she said and suddenly felt a hand across her face.

"I may be allot of things, Samantha, but a coward isn't one of them. You should grateful I'm in a good mood today...that means you get to die fast" The Leader said and walked back to the chair. Sam felt the pain pounding inside her mouth and the taste of blood made her angrier with him.

"Why kill me if it's Ed you're after?" she asked while rubbing her cheek that was blushing red by now.

"I thought I made that clear; you're a friend of his and I know how much Ed likes his friends. Your death would be the beginning of my plan. Killing his family first would be so...obvious. Besides, you walked right into my arms, which changes everything. Ed wont give up until he finds me and when he does...well, that's a different story" The Leader said with the same smirk as earlier.

"It doesn't matter if you kill me or not; Ed is still gonna get your sorry ass! You apparently don't know him well enough to know that you never piss him off...ever!" Sam said ice cold and suddenly The Leader saw a smirk on her face. As if she was carrying on a secret that he didn't know anything about.

"Thanks for the warning, Samantha, but I think it's a little to late. Besides, unlike you and your friends, I'm not afraid of Ed. He's not as tough as he'd like you all to believe. Just because he used to be a CIA-agent doesn't mean he doesn't have a weakness. And I just happened to know what that is...so, how would you like to go out?" The Leader asked calmly and Sam wished there was something she could say or do that would piss him off. Anything to wipe that smirk of his face.

"Did you use to work with him at CIA or something? Otherwise you would never the guts to do this to him. Sure, he can be a real pain the ass sometimes but I've learned to live with it. I suggest you do the same" she said, avoiding answering his question.

"Doesn't matter how I know Ed. What matters is where they will found your body. The casino would be to obvious...somewhere more private should do it. How about at his own home? I bet that would be unexpected!" The Leader said with a smile and Sam suddenly felt the cold doorknob in her back. There wasn't anything that would let light into the room so could The Leader stop her from getting out? Nobody had that good eyesight in such darkness.

"It's locked. Walker has the key and he's on the other side. I hardly think he'll open for you even if you ask nice" The Leader suddenly said and Sam felt at the door knob with her hand. The door was locked and she was still trapped with him in the dark.

"Why don't you just shoot me? It's a whole lot more fun then being stuck here with you...if you weren't such a coward I might even like you" she said and could hear his footsteps getting closer. She was ready for another slap on the face. It would be the perfect reason to kick him in between the legs.

"I'd love to but my gun is outside with Walker. If you want I can ask to get it...but then this nice conversation would come to an end" he whispered and Sam could feel him touching her hair.

"Don't you dare touch me!" she snapped and quickly moved aside.

"Having problems with men, Samantha? I should have guessed it, considering how you acted together with your so-called boyfriend. You're used to being in charge, right? Not taking crap from anybody, especially not any man? I've seen your kind before, Samantha, and they usually don't last very long in this world..." he whispered and even though Sam couldn't see him now, she knew he had the annoying smirk upon his face.

"I think you're mistaking my kind with yours. At least I'm not hiding out any dark room just because it gets tough sometimes!" Sam snapped and she felt the anger building up inside.

"Well, you have your reasons I'm sure. And I bet they have something to do with you proving something to everybody. Each day showing them that you are as tough as them. If not even more so" The Leader said and Sam leaned up against the well. She wanted to keep as far away from him as possible. Not because she was afraid but because he was seriously pissing her off. And she had to force herself to stay put.

"When do you think they are going to figure out you're missing? I'm guessing they already know. But the hard part still remains; how did I manage to get you out of The Montecito without anybody noticing? I'm sure Ed will figure it out but who knows...it might be to late" The Leader whispered after a while and went back to his chair. He decided to wait her out now. The fun had just begun and he knew she couldn't last much longer. It was just a matter of time.


	8. Chapter 8

Danny stared at the camera monitors but couldn't see anything out of the order nary. He and Ed had gone through all the material from the floor several times, and still haven't seen The Leader or Sam.

"Who is this guy? There's no way he can have left without the cameras filming it!" Danny said and Ed leaned back in his chair.

"Well, considering that he has already tampered with one camera...how makes you think he hasn't tampered with the others? The only way he could get out without looking to suspicious is the main entrance. And I'm guessing we wont see Sam willing leaving so I hardly think we are going to see anything" he said and picked up the phone.

"Who you calling?" Danny asked confused but Ed didn't answer him.

Hey, Mike, I need you up in the watchtower...now!" Ed said quickly when he heard Mike's voice at the other end of the phone. Danny was even more confused now and when Ed had hung up, he decided to find out what the phone call was about.

"Okay, what was up with that?" he asked and Ed got out of his chair.

"That was me getting Mike up here. If anybody can help us recover the missing material from the cameras, it's him. Or would you like to give it a try?" Ed asked sarcastically and Danny knew he wasn't suppose to answer that.

"So you really think Mike can get out the missing material? I thought this guy would have deleted it all then he 'upgraded' the system?" Danny asked instead and Ed glanced at him.

"Well, let's hope he wasn't that smart. Or else we have a huge problem on our hands" Ed muttered and in that moment Mike came walking into the surveillance room with a confused look upon his face.

"What's up, mr D?" he asked and Ed hinted at the desk where the main computer was located.

"I need you to get me some material that seems to have gone missing. Some guy a few days ago came in here and screwed up the whole system. I'm hoping that he left something behind for you to find" he said and Mike walked over to the computer without asking any more questions. He knew Ed Deline well enough to know what would happen if he did.

"Woah! This guy did a number on you!" Mike called out with an impressing smile when he noticed that the cameras sequences had been mixed up completely. Ed stared at him and he stopped smiling straight away.

"I can see that, Mike, but what I don't see is Sam leaving the casino...so would you please fix that?" Ed said, ignoring Mike's confused expression and turning his attention back to the monitors.

"It looks like this guy didn't delete the stuff. Weird, because I would have. But he just...hidden it really well and moved everything around so we wouldn't find it to easily" Mike explained while a few windows on the computer showed up.

"But his plan couldn't be so simple to just delete everything and then grab her...I mean, he didn't know who we were" Danny said and Mike glanced up from the computer. He didn't know what was going on and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. If Ed hadn't already told him it simply wasn't in his best interest.

"He didn't expect you two visiting him anymore then I did. This was done before that...probably being a different part of his grand plan" Ed said without looking at Danny.

"Okay, I got the pictures from last night at the main entrance recovered...wanna take a look?" Mike asked and Ed's stare was answer enough to his question. He got the pictures up on the monitors and the first thing showing was Sam entering the glass doors alone. But not to far behind two men in dark suits was following her.

"Looks like she made some new friends" Ed said sarcastically and Danny froze when he recognized one of the two men.

"Hey, Mike, run this guy through our database!" he blurted out and now he caught Ed's attention. Mike did as he was told and the mean time, Danny could feel Ed staring at him across the room.

"The Leader had this guy, his right hand, and that's him. I saw him following us after our first meeting but I didn't think The Leader would order him to do it again so that's why I didn't tell you about it earlier" Danny blurted out and was getting for another black eye but Ed didn't even move. He was beyond pissed off and moving up to extremely worried for Sam's sake.

"Our mystery man on the camera is Q. Walker...been in and out of jail since the 80's. Was realised from New York State prison two years ago due to good behaviour" Mike said when the picture of the creepy man appeared on the screen.

"What was he in for?" Danny asked and Mike hesitated before answering.

"Murder" he then said in a low voice. Ed and Danny stared at him as if he wasn't telling them the truth.

"So how the hell did him manage to get out because of good behaviour?" Ed snapped and Mike quickly scrolled down the page.

"By knowing the right people. A curtain T. Leary bailed him out, promising to keep him out of trouble. To bad Leary died one year ago in a warehouse fire" Mike added on the end and Danny stared at the screen. He couldn't believe the man staring back at him on the picture. It gave him the creeps just like the first on their first meeting.

"Leary isn't dead" Danny said suddenly and Ed glanced at him.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked sarcastically.

"Because I just met him last night..." Danny whispered. The Leader was no longer a stranger to him. He was a man with a past and soon a future behind bars.

Sam leaned against the cold wall and tried to keep her eyes open. The Leader had been quiet for hours now and without any caffeine tabs, she was extremely tired. But she refused to fall a sleep here of all places.

"You might as well give up, Samantha, because Ed is never going to find us. Besides, you wont be alive anyways" The Leader said suddenly and Sam could hear his footsteps getting closer.

"Well, you should now that 'my kind' never gives up. And you don't scare me. You're just a...!" Sam got cut off when she felt his hand across her face for the second time.

"Call me that again, Samantha, and I will kill you even without my gun. I have done it before and you're starting to really piss me off!" he snapped and Sam could feel the cold cement wall against her cheek.

"Is that all you got? Empty threats? You really think that's gonna shut me up? Asshole...!" she muttered and suddenly the door opened. She looked away when the sunshine entered the small room and felt The Leader grabbing her arm.

"If it wasn't for Ed, I would already have killed your sorry ass! Let's go!" he yelled out and dragged her out of the room. There was no use to fight back; he was much to strong for her. They walked through a long corridor and finally he opened up another door. It was a slightly bigger room with windows and a big desk. Behind the desk there was several camera monitors and at the other end a huge sofa. The Leader sat her down in the sofa and then walked over to the desk.

"I thought you might would to take a look at Ed one last time" he said with a smirk. Sam gave him a deadly stare and then noticed the creepy man standing at the door. He looked at her the same way as before and this time she couldn't keep quiet.

"Is your dog deaf or just stupid?" she asked and looked straight at The Leader. The both men looked at her, nothing being able to say anything at first.

"No, he's lethal...didn't I tell you? Walker here was doing time for several murders. Which would explain why he doesn't have any family left" The Leader said suddenly and Sam glanced at the creepy man. He actually smiled at her and Sam got chills down her spine. Both men made her sick but she refused to let them break her.

"Guess they didn't like him very much then. And I thought my family was weird..." she said with a smirk and smiled back at the creepy man. The Leader started working on his computer and ignored her by now. He knew he would get ride of her soon enough.

"How about you just relax while we're waiting, Samantha? I'm sure Ed will be here soon. With all the clues I've left for him it should only be a matter of hours now" he said without taking his eyes off the screen. Sam suddenly got of the sofa and walked over to his desk.

"Since we got plenty of time, you don't have a problem showing me to the ladies room?" she asked sarcastically and The Leader looked up at her and then waved at Walker.

"Don't let her out of your sight" he said and Sam walked out of the office with a smirk. Walker watched her carefully as they walked down the corridor that was even smaller then at The Beach.

"It's over here" Walker suddenly said and Sam was awaken from her thoughts.

"Why don't you run back to your owner? It's not like I'm going anywhere besides in here" she said and turning the doorknob. For some reason Walker stared at her before slowly walking back. Sam entered the toilet and looked up at the small window with bars in front of it and walls were ice cold. Sam shivered and the terrible taste in her mouth was still there. She touched her split lip and knew it was pretty bad. The pain wasn't gone and she had to control herself from not freaking out. The Leader was going to suffer soon enough and when it was time she would be there enjoying every minute of it. But all she could think of was to get away from him. She still had no idea where she was but it didn't matter anymore. All she wanted was to get out.

She looked up at the small window and then glanced back at the closed door.

"Here it goes..." she then whispered to herself. The window was high but Sam knew it was worth a try at least. She reached out and barely touched the bars with her fingertips. Which meant she needed something to stand on. She looked around the toilet and suddenly noticed an old bucket in the corner across the room.

"Perfect!" she whispered with a smirk.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So sorry about not updating until now! But I've been really busy with school & everything. Also, I didn't feel I had anything left to write when it came to this story but apparently I did. Just had a dried month or so without any new ideas since season 2 hasn't aired here yet. But thanks to downloading almost all the S2 episodes, I now feel the Sam/Danny love again and will continue to update this story until it is completed! Yay for _Las Vegas_! (Sorry about all the grammar errors but I'm too tried to correct them at this hour – just use your imagination) ;) **

* * *

"So now we got a murder, a suppose-to-be-dead bastard and Sam somewhere out there..." Danny said and Ed gave him one of his famous stares. They were sitting at their desk, trying to think of a way to track down The Leader. He wasn't at The Beach since that would be the first place they go looking for him.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Danny. Now, how about you use that brain to do some thinking?" Ed said sarcastically and glanced at the camera monitors.

"Doesn't matter how much thinking we do, Ed, we're not getting anywhere! This guy is probably laughing at us right now, knowing that we got nothing on him!" Danny said and got out of his chair.

"Well, with that attitude you're not getting anywhere" Ed muttered without looking up at him. Danny was driving himself crazy and Ed couldn't take it much longer.  
"Then tell me how we are suppose to find her? Because even if she's still in Vegas, it's gonna days to search everywhere!" Danny blurted out and this time Ed looked up at him.

"Why don't you just shut up and let me handle this, okay? Take a seat" Ed said and hinted at the empty chair beside him. Danny sat down with a groan and Ed picked up the phone, keeping an eye open for anything out of the ordinary on the monitors. Even though he was going to do everything in his power to get Sam back, he still had a casino to run. And being able to do so without making anybody suspicious; especially not the whales. Sam was the best casino host in Las Vegas and without her many of the high rollers wouldn't return to The Montecito in the future.

"Who you calling?" Danny asked and Ed glanced at him, before hanging up.

"You know what? How about you going down on the floor, trying to make yourself useful for once? And after this is all over, you and me are going to have a very long talk about your possible future here at The Montecito" he said in all seriousness and Danny got out of his chair without another word. This was not the time to question Ed Deline and he knew it all to well by now.

"Oh, and don't forget to check all the exists. That bastard has to have gotten out through a door like normal people" Ed said without taking his eyes of the monitors. Danny glanced back at him before walking down the stairs. It didn't matter how many exists he checked; they still hadn't a clue where Sam could be and time was running out. The Leader couldn't need her for much longer and Danny didn't even want to think about what would happen then. Since Sam didn't know when to keep her mouth shut, you could never stand her for many hours in a row. Soon The Leader would get enough.

She hit the ground with such force that she started to get dizzy. The jump had been higher then she had counted on and Sam looked up at the small window. The bars had been so rusty and old, that they had been easy for her to quickly remove.

"Oh, I'm never going to complain about my size again…!" she whispered to herself and slowly stood up. She was still pretty dizzy but at least the surroundings weren't blurry anymore like before. It was getting dark outside and soon it would be to late to find the right way back to The Montecito.

Suddenly there were sounds coming from up the toilet and Sam quickly started running, not caring in which direction. All she wanted to get away as soon as possible. She couldn't stand The Leader one more minute and she also knew her life could be in danger for real if he caught her.

But she didn't get far until she ran straight into a dead end. Because of the dark she had noticed it earlier and this meant that she would have to run all the way back past the building, where The Leader or Warner would probably grab her. And she knew exactly what would happen then.

"Think, Sam…think!" she whispered to herself while looking around the area. It was getting more and more dark by the minute now, and she was running out of time. Even if this was Las Vegas the nights wasn't very hot this time of the year. She rubbed her hands towards each other while thinking of a safe escape way. One that didn't involve running past the building once more. But the odds didn't seem to be on her side tonight.

Ed leaned in closer and froze the picture. He studied the man on the screen for what seemed like a small lifetime. It was obvious that he recognized the man from somewhere and so did Danny. Only they knew the man from two different times in history.

"Oh my God…that's him" Danny whispered suddenly and Ed looked at him.

"What? That's The Leader?" he asked and pointed at the screen. Danny took a few steps closer and nodded. The man on the screen was coming out of Sam's room, smiling and waving at the cameras.

"Yeah that's him…why? You know him?" Danny asked with a confused look upon his face.

"Used to. The man is supposed to be dead!" Ed yelled out and Danny quickly took a step back, just in case Ed would want to hit something in the heat of the moment.

"Who is he?" Danny asked carefully and Ed didn't take his eyes off the monitor screen.

"He used to work with me…or so we all assumed. Apparently he wasn't one of the good guys and everybody thought he died in an explosion over ten years ago" Ed explained briefly and Danny knew better then asking any more questions about the CIA.

"So what the hell is he doing here in Las Vegas and kidnapping Sam?" Danny asked and Ed slowly turned around.

"My guess is that he's pissed at me for that thing that happened over ten years ago…and somehow figured out that Sam works for me. The rest I hope you can figure out for yourself" he said ice cold and turned his attention back to the cameras.

They knew why The Leader had taken Sam but the 'how' was still remaining. They hadn't found any footage of her being taken from her room and dragged out of the casino. That part was still a mystery to them. But hopefully not for much longer because time was slowly running out, without them knowing it.

* * *

It was almost completely dark outside now and Sam finally stepped out from the alley. She had managed to find a road that hopefully went out to the highway, which would then take her up to The Montecito. Only problem was walking to the highway when it was pitch black and not knowing which direction was the right one. Sam looked both ways and knew that no car would just accidentally drive by for a very long time. Time that she didn't have anymore.

"Going somewhere?" Walker suddenly asked and Sam quickly turned around. He was standing across the street from her and this time holding a gun in his hand.

"Yeah, actually…you caught me at a bad time" she said sarcastically and Walker just smiled at her without even moving. Deep down the man didn't just give Sam the creeps but she refused to let her true emotions show in a time like this. Now she was trapped again and even if she started running, then he would get a very good excuse to end her life a bit earlier then according to the plan. The Leader wouldn't mind and none of the others would ever find her. They didn't even know who had took her or how probably. So she was screwed either way.

"Well, The Leader wants to see you so it will have to wait…but don't worry: you'll get out of here soon enough" Walker said and started walking towards her.

"Hey you know, I'm not really comfortable going inside again…maybe he can come outside? I mean, it's not like anybody is gonna hear us!" Sam said with a nervous laughter and Walker gave her a suspicious look. All of the sudden he didn't seem all that confident anymore and Sam wondered what it was that had changed.

"Who said that we are gonna stay here? Sooner or later your lovely friends is going to find us and when they do…well, you can figure out the rest" he said and grabbed a hold of her arm. He started pulling her across the street and while she struggled to get loose, Sam noticed that the gun was put away all of the sudden. For a moment she wondered if he had any intentions of killing her in the first place; the gun could just be for show.  
But she knew she couldn't stick around to find out or else she would truly be dead. The Leader was probably furious with her and he was scary enough to make Sam afraid.

As they were getting closer to the alley, panic overcame her and she used her free hand to punch him right in the face. He let lout a loud groan and let go of her arm while covering his face with both hands. Sam backed out on the street again and started running down the street, hoping that she wouldn't get more lost. Several gunshots went off and the following minutes went blurry before her eyes.

* * *

Ed put down the phone and turned around facing Danny. Thanks to Mike they had been able to get access to all the hidden footage. On the last one The Leader had appeared with Sam, which was when Ed decided to call Luis to get some more information about The Leader. Considering what the man did for a living the police had hopefully some lists over his hidings by now.

"What'd he say?" Danny asked with a concern expression.

"He'll be here ASAP…with all the information LVPD has gathered on this Leader-guy" Ed said with a heavy sigh and Danny leaned back in his chair, covering his face for a moment. Somewhere out there in dark Las Vegas was Sam with The Leader and his creepy bodyguard. Not even Ed could figure out where she had been taken and that made Danny even more worried.

"What are the chances The Leader hasn't…killed her yet?" he suddenly asked and looked over at Ed.

"First of all; don't keep calling him 'The Leader' because he as sure as hell isn't a leader! He is a first class asshole who gets kicks from doing this kind of things! Secondly; I very much doubt he has killed her" Ed said while raising his voice and pointing his finger at Danny. He hadn't been this pissed in hours and it was a very bad sign. It meant that he was just as worried as Danny and wasn't sure either if Sam was alive or dead.

"I sure hope Luis gets here fast with those papers…" Danny mumbled while staring up at the monitors.

* * *

**TBC... (I promise!)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Again I'm sorry for the long update. Been busy with school and everything. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter. Right now I'm kinda having a writer's block but I'm slowly working through it. As always, reviews would be awesome! **

* * *

Sam stumbled out of the woods and stepped out onto the concrete. Her heels made a clicking sound as she started walking slowly on the side of the road. This time there was a lot of traffic and Sam looked up at the one of the signs and realized she was on her way towards the main highway. She let out a loud groan and glanced back into the dark woods, and realized also that she was free. Her whole body ached and her shoes were killing her, but she was finally free. She had actually gotten away from The Leader without getting shot; all thanks to Walker's poor aiming skills. A smirk spread across her face and Sam started walking faster, knowing she had to get back before The Leader could escape Las Vegas. All she needed was a lift or at least access to a payphone. And after a few steps she realized getting a lift would be the best thing to do right now. She didn't have money on her and her shoes were about to kill her.

"If anybody tries to cop a field, I'll kill them…!" she muttered to herself and stepped out onto the street, trying not to look too desperate. Which was sadly the truth and she didn't have much time left either. The Leader might already be on his way out of Las Vegas or worse; looking for her.

Sam was so deep in thoughts that she didn't notice the car that had pulled up next to her. The sound of a car opening got her attention and she looked over at the young guy inside the vintage car.

"Where to?" he asked and that smirk made Sam almost want to smack him, but decided to keep it cool. She really needed a ride since it would otherwise mean a walk half across Las Vegas before reaching The Montecito. And thanks to her high heels there was no way she was going to make it all the way over there.

"The Montecito" she said coldly and slammed the car door shut without even glancing at the guy.

"Really? Feeling lucky tonight?" he asked and studied her while driving out onto the road again. Sam rolled her eyes and held back a groan, trying so hard to keep quiet.

"Do I look like I feel lucky, huh? For your information I've had a really crappy day so just take me to The Montecito before it gets even crappier…!" she snapped and the guy quickly stopped smiling, turning his attention back to the road. He didn't even glance her way all the ride over to The Montecito. Seeing the cars pulling up outside the main entrance made her take a deep breath and turning to the guy for the first time since stepping into the car.

"Look, I didn't really mean what I said earlier. I can't go into details but I have really had a horrible day, which is why I snapped at you. But I really appreciate you giving me a lift; I owe you…" she said with a weak smile and the guy looked at her with sparkling eyes and a big grin on his face.

"So you'll go out with me?" he asked and Sam's face went dead serious again in a second.

"Have a nice life buddy…!" she said and got out of the car before he even had the time to react. She slammed the door and quickly made her way between the long line of cars, blocking out every sound or comment that might be directed at her. Everything became a blur as she was getting closer to the entrance and she could feel her legs seeming weaker then before. Being back at The Montecito so soon and alive was something she hadn't counted on, even though she would never have admitted it in front of The Leader.

She walked in with a small group of tourists and realized well inside the lobby, that she hadn't seen Mike outside. He hadn't been up front right outside the entrance like he otherwise always was and as she glanced around the lobby; she couldn't see anybody she recognized. She slowly started walking out onto the floor, enjoying the sound of slot machines and people cheering for a moment, and then glanced around again. Nessa wasn't at any of the tables and either Mary or Delinda was seen walking across the floor. Sam got a terrible feeling inside and glanced up at one of the cameras, hoping desperately that Ed or Danny was looking down at her through one of the monitors. She took a deep breath and started walking towards the aluminium door that would eventually lead her up to the surveillance room.

"Just stay calm and explain everything that happened from the moment you feel a sleep…yeah right! How am I suppose to tell them if I don't even know myself? Okay, but then tell them what you know happened. At least you know where he might be hiding out; if he hasn't already left Vegas" she whispered to herself as she moved across the floor, avoiding looking at anybody passing her by. She couldn't be looking her best at all right now and refused to bring any more attention to herself at this point. All that mattered was to get up to Ed's office and tell them everything she could remember. But the sad fact of everything slowly becoming a gaze, as if she was in a dream, was starting to catch up with her, as she was getting closer to the door. She started walking faster and reached the door, swinging it open and quickly walking down the almost empty hallway. The heels made a loud sound that bounced off the walls and she was sure they could hear her coming a mile away. She walked up the stairs, feeling her legs struggling for every step and forced herself to increase her speed. Within moments she was walking down the small hallway leading up the main surveillance where everybody was seated. They were watching the monitors as usual and Sam could suddenly spot Danny, Mike and Ed up in front, talking with Luis about something while looking down at some papers. They looked extremely serious and even concerned, making Sam actually curious about what they were so interested in. She didn't know what else to do but stand there in the shadows, studying them from a far. It all just seemed so unreal all of the sudden; more then before. She had been kidnapped by some psychopath and now that she was finally free again, she didn't have the courage to walk up to them. Letting them know that she was safe and alive, and that they didn't need to worry about her anymore.

After what felt like a lifetime, she stepped out from behind the wall and kept her eyes firmly on the others. In spite of the loud sounds the heels were making, they didn't react at first. Whatever was on those papers had them focused for another few moments. Then, all of the sudden, they turned their heads around and their eyes were now focused on her.

* * *

"Are you sure you okay? That cut looks pretty nasty" Danny said and gave Sam another glass of water. They had moved up to Ed's office and Sam was resting in the sofa. Every party of her body was hurting and she didn't dare to get up just yet. Instead she leaned back and took a sip of the cooling water.

"It looks worse then it is, trust me. I'll be fine" she said and Ed walked over to the sofa, slowly sitting down next to her.

"Nonetheless, I think you should get some rest and something to eat before we continue this. It hasn't exactly been a walk in the park for you, Sam" he said and gave her a concerned look.

"Ed, as long as that bastard is out there I won't be sleeping" Sam said and Ed couldn't help but smile at this. In spite of everything she had been through she was still as stubborn as before.

"I know you won't…none of us will. But right now my main concern is that you are taking care of yourself" Ed said and Sam ran her fingers through her hair with a loud sigh.

"Fine. I'll go and…get some sleep" she said reluctantly and finished her glass of water before getting up. As expected, she was unsteady on her feet and Ed was quick to grab a hold of her arm.

"Danny, make sure she gets up to her room okay. And I'm gonna make sure that food is ready when you get there" Ed said and Sam nodded silently, closing her eyes for a moment. She felt like hell and could hardly wait to get up to her room again. It seemed like a lifetime since she last had been there.

"Thanks, Ed" she said with a tired smile and started walking towards the door. Danny glanced over at Ed before going after her. He knew she wouldn't want him too close in spite of everything that had happened. Sam carried herself as prideful as ever before but Danny kept an eye on her just in case.

As they stepped into the elevator, Sam stood at the other end and seemed to be in some sort of trance. She kept staring into empty space and Danny wondered what had really happened. What had The Leader done? That he had hit her more then once was obvious, judging from the bruise on her left cheek and the split lip. And it was also sadly obvious that she hadn't gotten any sleep, food or even water during all those hours. Yet she kept her cool and acted as if everything was fine, which it wouldn't be until The Leader was caught.

"Look, I know you want to nail this guy but I think it's better if you leave that up to Ed" Danny said suddenly and Sam looked up at him.

"Which is exactly what he wants; he only did all this to get to Ed. And this guy isn't some small-time crock…he means business so you better watch out" she said and the elevator stopped with a loud ding. They glanced at each other as the door slowly opened up and Sam quickly stepped out into the hallway.

"Sam, don't worry about it. You've been through enough already these past twenty-four hours as it is" Danny said and Sam walked over to the door, suddenly realizing she didn't have her card anymore. Danny reached over her shoulder and unlocked the door with the main card. Sam glanced at him without turning around and forgot for a moment that the door was now open. She had never been more exhausted in her life and yet she didn't want to go inside. Danny suddenly cleared his throat and Sam opened up the door before turning around.

"You know what kept going through my mind all that time? That one thing that didn't allow him to break me?" she asked and tilted her head slightly.

"What?" Danny asked and leaned against the doorframe, looking down at her. For a moment Sam forgot her words and couldn't help but stare at him. There certainly was something about him that made her spellbound from time to time. Luckily it hadn't occurred often at all so nobody, especially not Mary, suspected anything.

"You guys; Mary, Nessa, Mike, Delinda…and you, Danny. For once in my life I'm not alone and I want to keep it that way. The thought of not ever seeing you guys again it just…I wasn't going to allow for that to happen" she said finally and reluctantly looked away.

"Sam, I can't even begin to imagine what you went through and I will personally make sure that The Leader gets what he deserves; and I'm pretty sure Ed has a few words to exchange with the guy" Danny said with his boyish smile at the thought of Ed punching the living daylight out of The Leader. At this, a smile spread across Sam's face and that spark in her eyes was back again.

"Well then I can at least get some sleep, knowing you guys will be taking care of him…and Walker" she said and felt that it was time now to go inside. It was a miracle that she had stayed awake for so long; knowing the comfortable bed was so close now was such a relief.

"Yeah, you really should get some rest now. I'll talk to you later" Danny said and seemed to hesitate for a moment before walking away down the hallway. Sam let go of the door and walked over to the living room that melted in with the bedroom. Seeing the king-sized bed there untouched since last time sent chills down her back. She knew that The Leader had somehow gotten into her suite last time and the fuzzy memory of footsteps getting closer made her turn away quickly. She glanced over at the closed hotel door and walked over to the living room sofa. The food was already delivered as promised by Ed, but all of the sudden she wasn't hungry. She just wanted to sleep and forget the entire mess, so she lay down on the sofa and rested her head upon the cushion. Inside her head, she started counting the amount of money her whales would spend at The Montecito in just a few days. And before she knew it, she was sound asleep.

* * *

"Danny!" Mary yelled out and Danny quickly turned around in the middle of the craps tables.

"Yeah?" he asked, sounding very at edge. Mary gave him a confused look and than shook her head.

"Do you know where Sam is? We were suppose to have an all-girls lunch and she never showed up…besides, I don't think I've seen her since last night" she said and Danny glanced up at one of the cameras.

"Uhm…well, she's busy at the moment. I just came from her room and she doesn't want to be disturb" he said after a while and Mary looked even more confused now.

"Wait…you're telling me you have been up there talking to her? I knocked on her door several times like an hour ago and she didn't answer! What is going on, Danny? And do not tell me everything is fine because I can tell you're lying through your teeth right now!" Mary said and gave Danny a warning look beneath her bangs.

"Look, it's complicated, Mary. I think it's best if Sam tell you everything herself, but now is not the time" Danny said in a low tone of voice and Mary gave him a concerned look this time.

"What? Something happened to her? Danny, what are you not telling me?" she asked and took a few steps closer. Danny sighed and was just about to tell her the whole thing, when Ed showed up from behind. Mary quickly started smiling and Danny glanced over his shoulder, for once glad that Ed had interrupted them.

"Hey, Mary, apparently you are needed at Mystique…sounded pretty urgent according to Delinda" Ed said and Mary glanced over at Danny, who was avoiding making any eye contact whatsoever.

"Right, well then I'll leave the two of you alone" she said after a while and slowly started walking back towards Mystique.

"What hell was that? You were gonna tell her, weren't you? I knew it…! Can't leave you out of sight for two seconds!" Ed said and started walking past the craps tables. Danny sighed again, more heavily this time, and quickly followed him.

"So what have we got on this…T.L?" he asked Ed as they proceeded through the surveillance entrance door.

"Luis is searching all his _known_ hidings but I got feeling he's not gonna be there" Ed said without even glancing at Danny.

"So where do you think he is?" Danny asked, determined to get some kind of straight answer out of his boss.

"Well, he is clearly after me and since Sam got away from him…I would say he's probably on his way here" Ed said and that made Danny stop dead in his tracks in the hallway.

"Here? But, Ed, that means…Sam could still be in danger" he said and seemed to trail off for a moment.

"Yes, I know that. Which is why all security personnel are notified and we have our cameras trained on him.

Trust me; if he even manages to get inside he won't be coming out again" Ed said and disappeared out of sight. Danny leaned against the wall and let out a sigh again. He had just promised Sam that she was safe and now it turned out his promise couldn't have been more meaningless. Because The Leader would somehow find out a way to get inside, the question now was; would he go after Sam or Ed first? Or maybe even him?

"Hey, Danny!" Mike called out suddenly and Danny was awakened from his scary thoughts.

"What's up?" he asked while keeping a straight face. Or so he thought he was doing.

"How's she doing?" Mike asked and Danny contemplated saying that Sam was just fine but truth was that he didn't know. She wouldn't admit feeling scared or hardly even tired, so nobody never really knew how Samantha Jane Marquez was feeling inside.

"Well, from what I saw she was doing pretty okay considering everything…" he said with a shrug.

"Yeah…that's rough! God, I can't even imagine what it must have felt like!" Mike said as he leaned against the wall next to Danny. They both sighed heavily and became quiet for a moment.

"Hey…! Am I paying you to stand down here and do nothing?" Ed suddenly yelled out and Danny let out a sigh before rushing up the stairs to the office.

"What's up?" he asked and noticed that Ed was gathering his things. Which could only mean one thing.

"Luis and his guys find something very interesting at the north side of Las Vegas, that you and I are going to take a look at" Ed said, clearly not waiting for any kind of response before walking out of the office.

"Well have they also found him? Because otherwise don't you think it's too risky to go out there? I mean, the guy is probably waiting around for you to show up" Danny said as he tried to keep up with Ed.

"Which is why I'm not going alone" Ed simply said and increased his speed without paying attention to Danny anymore for now. He was confident that they would catch The Leader and end everything once for all. But Danny had a strong feeling that The Leader wasn't gonna be easy to catch and things wouldn't end happily.

* * *

Nessa and Delinda were laughing at some old childhood memory as Mary walked up to them in Mystique.

"Finally! We were beginning to think you had bailed on us…! So where's Sam?" Delinda asked and her smile wore off as she saw the look on Mary's face.

"I just talked to Danny and apparently…Sam isn't feeling well" she said and Nessa gave her a concerned look.

"What? Did he say why? Wait…how does _he_ know and we don't?" Delinda asked with narrowed eyes and Mary shrugged.

"He wouldn't say but I got a weird feeling about this. Why wouldn't Sam have said anything earlier when we were talking?" Mary asked and Nessa nodded along. Delinda still looked suspicious and picked up her cell phone from her small purse. Both Nessa and Mary gave her confused stares.

"Please tell me you're not going to call Sam…!" Nessa said with a pleaded expression but Delinda ignored her.

"Something just isn't right and I'm going to find out why" she said and searched for Sam's number on her speed dial. Mary and Nessa exchanged anxious looks before Mary sat down next to Delinda with a sigh.

"Look, D, I hardly think she's gonna pick up if she's not okay. Why don't we let her rest and then go up there? I'm sure she would appreciate that more" Nessa said and Delinda glanced over at her, sighed and hung up.

"Fine! But I'm telling you; something strange is going here! How often does Sam _not_ answer her calls or stay up in her room for this long? Even without any whales she's always running around down on the floor or Mystique!" she said and Mary nodded along.

"Well, I'm sure she will tell us herself soon enough" Nessa said, sounding ever so sensible and ordered up another round of drinks. Delinda put down her phone in the small purse and turned her attention back to the cute bartender. But Mary couldn't stop wondering what was going with Sam. And Danny for that matter; both had been nearly avoiding her and acting weird for days. Now Sam hadn't been outside of her room in over twenty-four hours and Danny was the only one who had any contact with her. Something was definitely up.

* * *

The distant buzzing of her cell phone and the bright Las Vegas sun made Sam reluctantly open her eyes. She turned around and realized she had fallen a sleep on the sofa after all, despite trying to stay awake. The food was within reaching distance but she wasn't very hungry at this point. Slowly, she sat up and stretched out her legs that had several scratches on them from running through the woods. She looked down at her dirty hands and touched her bruised cheek, realizing a shower was definitely needed. Perhaps even a long hot bath to soak away all the troubles. She managed to stand up and walked over to the bathroom while moaning loudly.

Around an hour later, she was standing in front of the bathroom mirror and studying her own reflection. The dark brown hair was hanging in wet curls around her shoulders and her face looked horrible, to put it mildly. She pulled on the yellow bathrobe and stepped out of the bathroom with a loud sigh. The bath had removed the dirt but she was still in pain. Although, this time it was different. All she could think about was to hurt The Leader like he had hurt her. She walked over to the closet and pulled out a pair of pants and a strapless top.

"I'm going to need _a lot_ of make-up…!" she said to herself at the look of the bruise on her cheek. She slowly turned away from the full-sized mirror and the bathrobe fell to the floor.

* * *

The Leader walked passed Mystique and glanced over at the women sitting by the bar. He recognized one of them but decided not to make a move until he had taken care of Samantha Jane first. She had gotten away from him and for that she was going to pay. He looked around the floor and was grateful that it was packed, which meant finding him wouldn't be so easy. Even with all the surveillance cameras.

He made his way to one of the elevators and luckily found an empty one. As it slowly made its way up to the floor where Sam's suite was, a smirk spread across his face. He was moving in on her now and she had no idea.

Only one floor left now and The Leader was very excited at this point. The elevator was slowly rising and within minutes, he would be knocking on her door. Now, he knew Samantha Jane Marquez was far cleverer than any other woman he'd ever met, but he doubted she would suspect anything. He was in disguise and had been fooling people for many years now. One woman could hardly put a stop to all of that.

Suddenly the elevator stopped and the doors opened up. The Leader was just about to step out, when a woman in a typical Las Vegas outfit and high heels stepped into the elevator. As she pushed on the first floor button, an even bigger smirk spread across his face. The woman only inches away from him was none other than Sam. And she had no idea the man next to her was preparing to make his final move that would silence her forever.

* * *

**TBC...**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Okay since the last chapter ended with a real cliffhanger, I decided to update DSAW sooner for you guys! Thanks for all the reviews! Personally I feel that this story turned out different than I planed. Which my stories ALWAYS does. I'm just glad anybody still likes it. Sam is my all-time favorite so I guess that's why this is more of Sam fic than a D/S fic. But I'll try and change that in the next chapter. And FYI: I'm currently working on another LV fan fic. Very Sam focused and it doesn't involve any bad guy trying to kill/kidnap her. But it's really a work in progress and won't contain this many chapters. Just thought I would throw that in here. Anyways, enjoy this chapter! The next chapter reveals the end! **

* * *

"You know, I really don't think it was such a smart idea to come here. What if he's just waiting to attack?" Danny asked with a nervous look on his face as he stepped into the empty warehouse. Ed turned around and glared at him, not saying anything this time.

"I'm just saying…!" Danny said and shrugged, trying to stay close. Not only was the warehouse huge and empty, it was also almost pitch black, in spite of it being sunny outside.

"I know! You've been saying it five times already! Just shut up and follow me!" Ed snapped and Danny took a deep breath, deciding to keep quiet for his own safety. He glanced around the warehouse and then down at his cell phone that was glowing in the dark by now.

"Could you turn that thing off?" Ed snapped and Danny quickly turned it off as he slipped it into his pocket.

"Done!" he said and continued to stay close behind Ed.

* * *

"That's weird…" Delinda said and hung up.

"What?" Nessa asked and Mary finally came out of her daze.

"I tried calling daddy but there was no answer, right? So I tried calling Danny just now and he didn't answer either. What's up with that?" Delinda asked and Nessa shrugged.

"Well maybe they are just really busy and can't answer?" Mary asked.

"Maybe…but I got a weird feeling about this. First Sam and now daddy and Danny aren't even answering. Seriously, am I the only one who thinks it's just not right?" Delinda asked and Nessa glanced at Mary.

"What makes you think something is wrong? You've not answered your cell when I've called you plenty of times! Does that mean you've been in danger?" Nessa asked and Delinda glared at her.

"No…! I've just been busy! But I'm telling you; _they_ are never too busy to answer their phones! Hello! Do you guys even know Sam? She's always carrying that little phone with her wherever she goes and suddenly she's not answering because 'she's not feeling well'? Sorry, but I'm not buying it! Danny is such a terrible liar!" Delinda said and leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.

"Okay, I admit it, something's not right. But I also think that whatever it is, it's none of our business. Ed and Danny are probably working on some important thing that has do with security. And Sam…well, Sam might just be resting. She has been acting kind of weird lately, don't you think?" Nessa asked and Mary stared down at her drink, not knowing what to say.

"Tell me about it! Weirder than usual! But I seriously doubt that's why she's been hiding up in her room the whole day! What do you think, Mary?" Delinda asked and Mary quickly looked up.

"Who? Me? Uhm…well…I don't know. Danny said she wasn't feeling well so I guess she's not. Really, Delinda, I think you're reading a little too much into this" Mary said with a weak smile.

"Maybe. I don't know. It's just that it feels like everybody is avoiding us! They have been acting really weird for days now!" Delinda said and Nessa nodded along while taking a sip of her drink.

"We need to have a talk with Sam when she gets down here" Nessa said and Mary stirred her drink silently.

* * *

Sam glanced over at the older man and couldn't help but wonder where she had seen him elsewhere. He looked familiar but underneath all those clothes it was hard to place him. She flashed him a weak smile as he looked over at her, and she quickly turned her attention back towards the elevator doors.

"Nice weather today" the man said suddenly and Sam froze for a moment.

"Excuse me?" she asked and looked over at him again, trying so hard to place him. He simply smiled at her and it sent shivers down her spine.

"Nice weather today…Samantha" he said and Sam was stunned. The Leader was standing the same elevator as her, when he really should be behind bars by now. She took a step back and felt the cold wall behind her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice nearly trembling. The Leader let out a sarcastic laughter and Sam didn't dare to take her eyes off of him.

"Visiting you of course, Samantha. You got away from me and I'm not gonna let that happen again" he said in a low husky whisper and took a step closer. Sam moved closer to the elevator doors and prayed that the elevator would stop soon. She knew what The Leader was capable of doing all too well.

"No point in waiting, Samantha" The Leader said and pushed the emergency button. The elevator came to an abrupt halt in a dimmed light and Sam tried to think to something to say. Anything that could earn her some more time to push that emergency button herself. But The Leader was blocking her view for the time being.

"Look, it's not my fault that Walker was such a lousy shot! I mean, the guy couldn't even hit a tree if he wanted to! Why don't you blame all this on him?" Sam asked and stared The Leader right in the eye, not finding the strength to move one inch.

"Oh, believe me; I've made him pay for what he did. And now it's your turn. Then Ed Deline and that pretty boyfriend of yours, Samantha" The Leader said and moved closer.

"First of all; he is not my boyfriend. And secondly; why not do us all a favour and kill yourself instead?" she said sarcastically and was sure that The Leader would slap her again, but he didn't do anything.

"Always a sense of humour, Samantha. That's one of the things I admire about you. Shame really that we couldn't have worked something out and that Ed Deline is your boss and not me" he said with a smirk. Sam felt another shiver down her spine and tried desperately to think of what to do next.

"Who says it's too late? I'm not bound by any contract to stay here at The Montecito and if your offer still stands…" she said but The Leader's smile interrupted her quickly.

"Nice try, Samantha, but I'm not a fool. Not only did you escape but you returned here; now, that shows that you actually care for these people. Which means you gonna have to pay" he almost whispered.

"Why? Because I just happen to work for the wrong guy? Hey, it is not my fault that Ed Deline offered me better conditions!" Sam yelled out and stepped away from The Leader. Now she was on the other end of the elevator and the emergency button was in clear sight.

"Don't make this harder than it already is, Samantha. So give it up" he said with the same smirk as before.

"Sorry but it's not in my nature. See, where I come from you just don't give up" Sam said and gave The Leader a deadly stare in the dimmed light. He let out a short laughter and moved in closer.

"Well then it will give me an even greater pleasure of killing you, Samantha" he whispered and took a revolver from under his coat. Sam froze up and couldn't help staring at the gun in front of her. It was slowly getting closer and she couldn't sort out her thoughts fast enough.

"Any last words before I put the bullet through your chest?" The Leader asked suddenly and Sam jumped at the feeling of the cold barrel against her chest. She knew she didn't come off as tough and fearless, but at this moment she couldn't care less. All she could think about was to get away from him as soon as possible.

"Well, you know, I do have something to say" she said with a trembled voice, eyes still on the gun. The Leader didn't remove it but gave her a curious look.

"Yes?" he asked slowly, clearly wanting to get this over and done with. He did after all have a few other people to get revenge at after her. She was nobody special to him in the end. Sam managed to get in closer to him and smiled for a brief moment.

"Go to hell!" she snapped and kneed him quickly in the crotch. As he let out a painful scream, she leaped around him and pushed the emergency button several times. The elevator got off to a slow start but a moment or so, it stopped and the doors slowly opened. Sam ran out into the hallway and quickly looked both ways before seeing the door leading to the stairwell. With no time to lose, she started running towards the door, hearing the sounds of The Leader behind her. Every part of her body wanted to stop and rest but she kept going, feeling like she would never reach that damn door. She swung it open and hurled down the stairs faster than ever before.

"You can't hide from me, Samantha! I will find you soon enough!" The Leader yelled out from behind and Sam immediately started running faster. She suddenly remembered her cell phone and quickly took out from the jeans pocket. With shaking hands she dialled the first phone number that popped into her head and prayed that somebody would pick up on the other end. After a few signals the automatically message, saying the phone was not available, was heard and Sam hang up. She was breathing heavily by now and as she saw a door at the end of the stairs, she put away the cell phone.

"Samantha…!" The Leader yelled out and Sam flew the last steps, quickly grabbing a hold of the doorknob. A wave of panic went through her body as the door would not open. The sounds of him getting closer increased the panic growing inside of her, and she knew she didn't have any other choice than keeping running. Even though she would give anything to make him suffer, she didn't stand a chance at a time like this.

She turned around and started running down the stairs again, taking out her cell phone. Frantically she started dialling another number, knowing The Leader wasn't far behind now. Unlike her, he was well rested probably and didn't have a problem with running over ten stairs. But to Sam it was pure hell.

"Come on! Come on…!" she whispered to herself as she punched in the last few digits in the phone number. The Leader's heavy footsteps seemed to be getting even closer than before and suddenly a shot was fired. Sam pressed against the wall for a second, wondering where that shot had come from.

"Oh, Samantha…! It's really not nice running away when you know I'm gotta get you!" The Leader called out and Sam caught a glimpse of his shadow two stairs above her. She took a deep breath and continued to run.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Well this is it! The last chapter of DSAW has finally been uploaded and the story is complete! Now, the last scenes was hard to write but hopefully I did a decent enough job. And I also hope that the grammar is okay because I've been too lazy to double-check it. Been working on another LV fan fiction and hopefully that one will be uploaded sometime next week. And I have to credit The Pussycat Dolls' songs "Don't Cha", "Tainted Love" and "Sway" for giving me that extra inspiration for the ending. Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

Danny turned on his cell phone as he and Ed entered The Montecito again. They walked back towards the surveillance room while Danny noticed he had two missing calls on his cell. Both were from Sam and Danny pressed speed dial while walking up the stairs with Ed ahead of him.

"Huh…that's strange" Danny mumbled to himself and Ed turned around.

"What?" he asked grumpy and Danny froze for a moment.

"Well…it's just that Sam isn't answering her phone. She always answer her phone" he explained quickly and Ed contemplated this for a second. He then looked down at Danny again.

"It's probably best if you check on her. She's been through hell of a lot" Ed said and Danny nodded before dashing down the stairs. Both know something was going on with Sam. Like everybody else knew, she always answered her phone no matter what. So something was definitely up.

* * *

Sam cursed at herself for dropping the cell phone. It flew down the stairs and the sound of it breaking into pieces made Sam panic even more. Now she was trapped in a stairwell alone with The Leader and not even a cell phone along with her. She jumped over the pieces and hurled down the stairs. It felt like she had been running for hours even though it had only been less than five minutes. Maybe even seconds. She had lost count of how many stairs she had been running down and had no clue how far behind The Leader was now. All she could focus on was to get down to the ground floor and out into freedom. Suddenly heavy steps seemed to be right behind her and she looked over her shoulder. The Leader wasn't there. But then several shots were fired and Sam lost her balance. She tripped over something and tumbled down the stairs. She quickly came to a halt when rolling into the cement wall and let out a groan. For a moment she completely forgot about The Leader and the dizziness got the better end of her. She looked around and suddenly felt an aching pain in her ankle. But that feeling quickly disappeared when she heard The Leader getting closer and saw him only two stairs above her. He looked down at her with a horrible grin and took out the gun.

"How nice of you to wait, Samantha" he said in a loud voice and climbed down a few stairs. Sam struggled up on her feet again while cursing herself and headed for the stairs again, but this time she wasn't fast enough. Suddenly The Leader was only a few stairs behind and had perfectly clear sight of her. She froze immediately and stared at him, not daring to speak or move at first.

"What's the matter, Samantha? You're not scared are you? Not giving up I hope?" The Leader asked and calmly walked down the stairs with his gun trained on her.

"What do you want to me say? That you've won? I don't think so" Sam said, getting chills down her spine as he approached her. Soon the tip of the gun would be touching her skin again and this time would be the last. He wouldn't give her another chance to escape again. This was it.

* * *

The door was locked and there was no answer. Danny sighed and tried reaching Sam on her cell phone for the third time but still no answer. Now he knew for sure that something was wrong and called Ed.

"Ed, she's not here. I think we better check the cameras" he said and glanced down the hallway. That's when he noticed that the door to the stairwell was slightly opened.

"Ed, I'll call you back" Danny said slowly and hung up. He quickly walked down to the door and stepped into the stairwell. The vague smell of perfume and gunpowder made him tense up. He quietly started walking down the stairs and couldn't hear anything at first. For a moment he wondered if maybe it was all in his head, that he was just being paranoid. But that smell of gunpowder didn't go away and as he continued down the stairs, he got more certain that something was up. Now he just had to find out what.

* * *

Only one more stair and she could finally reach the exit door. The ankle was still sore but she could ignore the pain if it meant getting away from him. Outside he wouldn't dare to do anything since there would be too many witnesses there. She just needed enough time to make it down those stairs. Suddenly The Leader grabbed hold of her and she stopped dead in her tracks. He looked up and tightened his grip on the gun. The distanced sound of footsteps echoed quietly through the stairwell. Sam didn't know how to react since she knew The Leader would easily kill this poor bastard.

"_Don't_ say a word" The Leader whispered and tightened his grip around Sam's arm. She didn't move a muscle even though she so badly wanted to kick his ass. Once again he had the upper hand on the situation and it was driving her crazy. He was the bad guy who was supposed to be in jail instead of killing innocent people. As the footsteps got closer, Sam panicked. She used her free hand to punch The Leader in the face, although not exactly the way she had planned from the beginning. But he dropped the gun and she managed to wriggle out of his grip. She kicked the gun aside and started running up the stairs this time. It didn't go very fast because of the ankle and the fact that she was exhausted, but before she knew it she was three stairs above The Leader. She glanced down and noticed that he had hardly moved.

"Sam? What are you doing here?"

She looked up and nearly ran straight into Danny.

"Danny? What are _you_ doing here?" she asked, starting to panic again.

"Looking for you. Sam, what's going on? You look horrible" Danny said as he realized what state she was in.

"Okay, to make a long story short; The Leader found me. And I need you to call the police or Ed _now_, before he gets away again!" Sam said and without asking any questions, Danny whipped out his cell phone. Sam leaned against the railing and looked down, founding The Leader was actually still there. He was on his feet now and looked up straight at her. A smirk spread across his face and Sam felt the rage bubbling within her by now.

"Hey, Ed, I've found Sam. And our guy. Yeah. The stairwell. Uh huh…okay"

Sam reluctantly took her eyes off The Leader and looked over at Danny. He nodded slightly at her and she looked back down at The Leader again.

"Oh, Samantha, why don't you just come down so we can work this out?" The Leader called out and started laughing. Sam clenched her fists and glared at him.

"Ed is on his way" Danny whispered suddenly and looked down at The Leader.

"Ah, look who's here! Prince Charming himself at the rescue! I thought women like you could take care of themselves, Samantha!" The Leader called out with a smirk.

"Shut up! You really think I'm going to listen to a _coward_? You're pathetic!" Sam said, very well remembering how The Leader hated being called a coward.

"Nice try, Samantha. But sadly I have to go now. Nice meeting you again" The Leader said and waved at her before walking downs the stairs. Sam let go of the railing and was about to run down the stairs, but Danny quickly grabbed a hold of her hand.

"Let him go, Sam" he said calmly.

"_What_? Danny, I'm not gonna let him get away again…!" Sam said and tried to wriggle out of Danny's grip, but he wouldn't let her.

"And he won't get away. Ed's got it under control, Sam" he said and Sam stopped wriggling. She looked up at him with doubt in her eyes, as if she still didn't quite believe him.

"I think it's time to focus on you for a change. Sam, you've been through hell and you're definitely not fine" Danny said and Sam realized they were still holding hands. But she didn't let go. It was nice knowing she wasn't alone in all of this. There were people who cared for her and wanted to help her out.

"I will be fine. Just as long as he gets what he deserves. Then I'll be fine" she whispered and felt the tears dwelling up.

"Well considering Ed will be taking care of him, I say he gets what he deserves" Danny said and Sam smiled, feeling a tear slowly rolling down her cheek now. Danny reached out and wiped away the tear, giving Sam goose bumps. The feelings going through her mind couldn't be denied any longer; she had fallen for him. Something she promised herself not to do. But he was different from the others and somehow she wasn't afraid this time. Just by looking at him calmed her down and her heart started beating regularly again.

"What?" Danny suddenly asked and Sam kept smiling at him.

"You came looking for me…how did you know where to find me?" she asked. Danny studied her for a moment. In spite of everything she was still holding it together and still so beautiful.

"Intuition" he said after a while and closed the distance between the two. Sam looked into his dark eyes and her heart immediately starting beating faster.

"You're such a wise ass" she said and Danny laughed.

"Glad to see you haven't changed" he said but as he looked down at her again, he became serious.

"What?" Sam asked and Danny studied the bruises and cuts on her face.

"You must be tired. Let's get out of here" he said. A part of Sam didn't want to leave now, when all she wanted to was to kiss him. But the other part of her was way too exhausted to argue with him. He put his arm around her shoulders and they started walking up the stairs.

* * *

Ed took a step back and stared at The Leader, now lying on the floor with a bloody nose and a black eye.

"I'm asking for the last time; who the hell are you?" Ed asked. The Leader coughed up some blood and looked up at Ed with a smirk.

"So I guess this means trying to kill Samantha was a no-no?" he asked sarcastically and Ed kicked him in the stomach again.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today! Now, tell me who the hell you are and why you are trying to kill my employees!" Ed yelled out and The Leader struggled to sit up.

"You really don't remember, do you?" he asked, this time with an angry voice. Ed studied his face for a moment but he was still a stranger to him.

"Well do you remember my brother then; Simon Leary?" The Leader asked and Ed froze.

"Your brother was Simon Leary?" he asked.

"The same man who you killed!" The Leader spat out angrily and Ed punched him in the face again.

"Now you listen to me; your brother killed two members of my team and innocent civilians! I had no other choice than to kill him!" Ed said and The Leader jumped up at him. They threw a few punches at each other before Ed finally hit The Leader upside the head, and he passed out on the floor.

"I never trusted that Leary…" Ed said to himself before walking out of the interrogation room.

* * *

The door closed behind them and there was a moment of awkwardness, as they couldn't stop staring at each other. Sam finally broke eye contact and walked into the living room. She didn't know quite what to say but just looking at him satisfied her. Having him so close by was something she hadn't thought would feel so wonderful. Now all she had to do was to express these emotions that was growing inside of her.

"I see you haven't touched your food" Danny suddenly, breaking the awkward silence. He walked over and took a seat in the sofa, still staring at Sam.

"Yeah…I lost my appetite. Although, I could sure use a drink right about now! What about you?" she asked with a nervous smile. She hated feeling like this nervously around any guy, and especially Danny. He had never seen her like this before and she still wasn't completely what feelings he had for her.

"Sure" he said and leaned back in the sofa, slightly smiling at her now. She turned around and walked over to the mini bar. Her hands trembled as she started to pour up some whiskey into the two glasses. Danny got up and walked over to her, putting his hands over hers. Sam would have laughed out loud if it hadn't been him who helped her filling up the glasses. She wasn't even capable of pouring herself a drink at this point, all thanks to The Leader that hopefully was in Ed's care by now.

"I'm probably gonna need more" Sam said and Danny gave her a puzzled look. She pointed at her drink and took a sip of it with a cheesy smile.

"I think you need sleep more than that" Danny said, taking a sip of his drink and then putting it down again. Sam tensed up and finished her drink in one breath. Her hand was still trembling as she put down the glass.

"Trust me; I definitely need the drink more" she said, getting annoyed with Danny all of the sudden. It even surprised herself sometimes how fast she changed moods.

"Okay if you say so…" Danny said and looked away for a moment.

"What's supposed to mean?" Sam asked and put her hands on her hips.

"Nothing. It's just that…you really need to take it easy. I hate seeing you like this" Danny said.

"Well I'm touched but I am capable of taking care of myself just fine" Sam said and marched into the bedroom. She took one quick look at herself in the mirror and felt like sinking through the floor at that moment.

"Look, Sam, I didn't…"

Danny became quiet as he saw Sam staring at herself in the mirror. She quickly turned around and looked at him, not knowing what to say. Danny walked over to her and took her hands in his.

"We never talked about…the other night" he said slowly and Sam pulled her hands away.

"I didn't realize we needed to talk about it. We did what was needed at the time, right?" she asked with a stern voice and didn't look vulnerable any more.

"Right. But I still think we to talk about it. You just can't ignore it, Sam, because it won't go away" Danny said and Sam sighed.

"I'm not ignoring it. At least not more than you are. Weren't you the one who kissed me first?" she asked and crossed her arms. She was starting to become the old Sam more and more now, and Danny couldn't help but smile at her. She looked so cute when she acted all tough.

"Yeah I did. But you chose to return it" he said with a teasing smile.

"Well have you ever considered it was because I felt sorry for you?" she asked and Danny's smile grew wider.

"I don't think so. I think you're just afraid admitting that you actually liked it" he said, sounding very cocky. Sam gave him a warning look, but she couldn't deny it. He was right and that could only mean one thing.

"You liked it as well or else you wouldn't have brought up in the first place. If it was just a meaningless kiss then why not just ignore it?" she asked and did her best not to smile.

"All right. You got me; I liked it. Happy now?" Danny said and this time Sam smiled.

"Ecstatic" she said, and the smile turned into a smirk.

"You're really not gonna make this easy for me, are you?" Danny asked and Sam shook her head.

"Nope!" she said and chuckled, making her look cuter. If that was even possible.

"Well, it looks like we both liked it. So…" Danny said and stepped closer. They were inches apart now and Sam became serious. She drowned in those dark eyes again and forgot about everything else.

"So…" she whispered and in the next moment their lips touched. The kiss grew more intense and Sam started unbuttoning Danny's shirt without breaking off the kiss. Her strapless top came off, as they started moving towards the bed. His hands ran all over her body and soon her jeans were lying on the floor next to the bed. They lay down on the bed, still kissing. Danny ran his hands through Sam's dark curly hair and couldn't get enough of the sweet jasmine smell surrounding her. Never had either of them ever imagined that anything like this would happen. They had always considered each other as co-workers and later on good friends, but nothing more than that. Now they simply couldn't get enough of each other. In that moment everything seemed so perfect it just couldn't be wrong. Having each other so close was a feeling they couldn't deny any more. Something so wonderful just couldn't be ignored. And it certainly wouldn't go away.

* * *

Ed hung up the phone and walked down to the surveillance room, glancing at all the monitors. Danny was nowhere to be seen and Ed was getting annoyed.

"Hey, Mitch, find out where Danny was last seen" he said suddenly and Mitch nodded. He started taping away on the computer and Ed took out his cell phone. He dialled Sam's number but there was no answer there either. The thought that something had happened to her didn't occur to him since The Leader had been caught. Danny himself had called and told Ed that he had found Sam in the stairwell as well as The Leader. And now that The Leader was in custody, there was no need for Sam hide.

"Got it. You wanna watch it here or in your office?" Mitch asked and Ed hesitated for a moment.

"I'll take it in my office. Thanks, Mitch" he said and slowly walked back up into the office. He sat down behind his desk and waited a moment before he got picture on his screen. When it came on, all he could see was an empty corridor. But just as before, he recognized which floor it was and who's door was in perfect view. It was like a déjà vu all over again but this time both Danny and Sam were seen going into her suite together. Ed glanced down at his watch and checked the time at the corner of the screen. Not too long ago they had entered that suite together and either of them was answering their calls. Ed contemplated actually calling Sam on her regular phone up at the suite, but knew the timing wasn't the best. She wouldn't answer the phone anyway.

"Hey, Ed, have you seen Danny?" Mike suddenly asked as he entered the office. Ed quickly removed the sequence from the computer.

"Nope. Why?" he asked, managing as always to keep a straight face.

"I needed his help on something. That's weird; it's not like him forgetting" Mike said with a puzzled look.

"Well I'm sure he'll turn up soon enough. If not, I'll make sure he contacts you ASAP" Ed said.

"Thanks, Mr. D" Mike said and walked out of the office. Ed sighed and leaned back in the chair.

"He better show up…" he muttered to himself.

* * *

Sam slowly opened her eyes and turned around in bed, facing Danny who was already awake.

"Hi…" Sam whispered and Danny grinned at her.

"Hey" he said in a soft voice and caressed her cheek. Once again Sam got goose bumps from his touch and she could hardly believe that he was still there. He hadn't left her side even though he had probably all the time in the world to do so. But he had chosen to stay and that was proof enough that she had made the right decision.

"What?" he asked and she smiled at him.

"Just making sure that this isn't some wonderful dream" she said and he started kissing her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

"Have I convinced you enough?" Danny asked with a playful smile as they stopped kissing. Sam looked up at him with that spark in her eye and was just about to say something when a phone started ringing.

"I think you better get that" she said with a grin and Danny kissed her one last time before reluctantly getting out of bed. He walked out into the living room and managed to find his cell phone on the coffee table. Sam sat up in bed and couldn't stop smiling like a fool. She felt great and was happier than ever before.

Danny looked at the caller ID and looked over at Sam.

"It's Ed!" he said, looking terrified. Sam on the other couldn't help but laugh.

"Well then you better answer before he finds out where you are" she said with a teasing smile. Danny forgot about the call for a moment and admired her. She looked so perfect just sitting there under the covers.

"Danny McCoy. Ed…! Yeah, sorry about that. Oh, you've called four times already? No, I'm just…taking a break. Uh huh. Yep, I'll be right down" Danny said and quickly hung up. He put down the phone and walked into the bedroom again. Sam looked at him with a teasing smile.

"You're in big trouble…!" she said and chuckled.

"This time it was worth it" Danny said and leaned in to kiss her. Sam wrapped her arms around his neck again and pulled him down on top of her.

"It better be" she said with a devious smile.

* * *

**THE END! **


End file.
